Advertisement

Album reviews Music

Katy Perry

Rating: NNN


Amidst reports that she would adopt a more grown-up sound, Katy Perry kicked off the campaign for her fourth album by releasing a video of herself setting her signature blue wig on fire. For the most part she’s incinerated the old Katy on Prism, abandoning the brazen, Pee-wee’s Playhouse-style sexual innuendo of 2010’s Teenage Dream album for earnest songs about self-actualization.

Instead of “I wanna see your peacock-cock-cock,” the overwhelming sentiment is “I’m the one defining who I’m gonna be.” It’s an understandable reaction to a kid-friendly image, but Perry’s ballads are so unadventurous and heavy-handed (chiming U2 guitars and slow-building, reverbed drums), they start to feel like caricature anyway.

Her approach works better on the feel-good half of the album made up of top-notch roller-disco anthems. Prism’s best moments hearken back to Escapade-era Janet Jackson (Birthday), Stock Aitken Waterman-era Kylie (Walking On Air), Is It Good To You-era Heavy D (This Is How We Do) and Daft Punk’s Digital Love (International Smile).

Top track: Birthday

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.