Smile - Katy Perry: Review
is a pop artist who really needs no introduction at this point. With over a decade of hits under her belt and one of modern pop musics most acclaimed albums in Teenage Dream Katy doesn't need to prove herself. Despite this Smile has a lot of singles released over the last year and adds up to Katy's shortest album yet.
Review By Lavender:
There was a point in my life coinciding with Katy's brilliant 2010 record Teenage Dream where I was a major fan of her music. Since then however it hasn't been quite as fruitful being a Katy fan starting with the very underwhelming follow-up record Prism. 2017's Witness was an improvement that saw Katy dipping her toes into some different sounds with mixed results. After releasing 7 singles over the past year Katy seemed to be forecasting a more conventional pop sound. When the tracklist was released I was surprised to see which singles made it onto the record while Small Talk and Never Worn White were left off, but that proved to be the first in a line of mistakes that makes this the most painfully average record Katy has dropped so far.
Of the five singles the better tracks tend to turn up on the first half while the weaker ones turn up towards the albums final stretch. Never Really Over is the opening track and a single I loved last year. As an opener is brings a soaring ascendant pre-chorus and a wordy but still incredibly catchy hook. The Zedd production is slick and perfect for the uptempo nature of the track to get the record started on a bright spot. Smile was my other favorite single and it holds up pretty well here. Despite its formulaic pop veneer there is a lot to love about the songs instrumental subtleties and the charming performance Katy puts out. Her charisma is that of a veteran pop star and adds a ton to the song. Daisies was a single I wasn't totally sold on but it is among the better songs on the record. It's a classic Katy positivity anthem highlighted by the line where she talks about taking their sticks and stones and building a house. This is another one of the songs I've grown to like with a simple hook that puts some solid vocal work on display and acoustic instrumentation that do a lot to help the song out.
Aside from the singles there are a trio of other tracks that I enjoy starting with Cry About It Later. The song is an electro pop piece with an EDM flare and a dance-floor ready hook. The songs theme addresses the idea of forgetting your problems by dancing instead but the track takes a bigger focus on those problems at the core than most songs with this concept. Not The End Of The World is a track that gets off to a pretty good start witht the first hook before the trap inspired instrumental kicks in. While I don't love the na na na pre-chorus I do find the hook pretty rewarding in a way that reminds me of Never Really Over and makes for a good highlight in the middle of the record. Champagne Problems is an 80's throwback song complete with a slick bassline. The song has a decent foundation and is pretty good on its own but I can't help but compare it to some of the other more exciting throwbacks we've heard across pop and R&B music this year.
The pair of singles in the later half of the album are two of the tracks I can't really believe show up on the record in place of Never Worn White. Harleys In Hawaii is a song I can't really stand just like I couldn't really stand it last year when I first heard it. While being one of the most upbeat and carefree songs here the hook just does absolutely nothing for me and the beat is incredibly tame. The whole thing sounds focus grouped as hell and just as committed to its island vibe as it's legally required to be. The closing track What Makes A Woman isn't necessarily that bad of a song but as an ending to this record it is disappointing. The song is a short and lowkey ballad that takes on femininity in a pretty shallow and predictable way but what makes it so unsatisfying is that it completely avoids the theme of overcoming sadness that dictates so many of the albums tracks.
Resilient is a ballad with conflicted priorities that pairs a powerful lead vocal performance with some really light orchestral instrumentation that never really impacts the song enough to be worthwhile. Teary Eyes is a pretty forgettable pop track and while I think the sentiment is compelling the execution doesn't do much for me. While the perseverance Katy preaches is righteous the way it comes off sounds so shallow and the hook sounds like it belongs about 10 years ago. Tucked is another one of the weaker tracks here even though I was holding out hope that it would be about a different kind of tucked. It isn't overwhelmingly bad just very uninspired. The song fails to stand out from other songs on the record that have similar sounds but pull it off better. My least favorite song on the entire record is is Only Love which sounds like white people worship music with all of the records worst lyrics. I'm not sure how this turned out so rough given that Katy is normally good on track like this but the track is doing absolutely nothing for me.
Smile has some good singles and a few satisfying deep cuts but its most defining quality it a failure to stand out. Too many of these tracks miss their marks or are just outdone by so many of the other better pop records I've heard this year. Despite being a stan from way back and pulling for this era to be great what Katy provides here is inconsistent and often underwhelming, but with just enough worthwhile music to leave me anticipating what she may do next. 5.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
This cover had the potential to be great, but falls way too flat for what is expected of her. The fan remade cover that is offered as an alternative should have replaced this one as this lacks any depth of interesting composition. The colors are fun but looking at the beginning of this era I think she sould've stuck with the hippie/70's vibes she was pushing out. It would've made it so much more fun and dynamic. Instead the downfall was the day her management said "How about clowns?". 6/10
For more pop check out my review of Lady Gaga's Chromatica here
