Music An Album & Track By Track Review of Katy Perry's New Album "Smile"

[ALBAVEASP]

"A comfortable addition to her catalogue."

 

From the exploitation of kissing a girl to dancing while purposely woke, Katy Perry is our favorite party best friend throughout the decade. And today, she finally dropped her most anticipated fifth studio album, Smile, follow up to 2017's Witness.

We managed to somehow know what would be the direction of this record through her droplet era, starting from Zedd's collaboration, 365, to the most recent wedding-inspired ballad , Never Worn White. And though commercially underwhelming, it successfully transitioned her sound from electro-influenced pop to her old bubbly persona. 

And before proceeding to the album's final verdict, here are the track by track reviews:

 

1. Never Really Over

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

- rather than to use her bubblegum-pop clichè, Perry progressively transcend the track into a mouthful and catchy harmonious anthem. Indeed, a perfect pop song. 

 

2. Cry About It Later

⭐⭐⭐

- though the electric guitar and bass are quite addictive, starting the track with it's chorus makes it tirelessly redundant.

 

3. Teary Eyes

⭐⭐⭐

- the electronic syths sound very familiar. At least the dreamy/feather-like way Perry sings blended well with it's edge-y beats. And that second verse is a great build up though.

 

4. Daisies

⭐⭐⭐⭐

- though the verses are particularly weak, the euphoric and explosive chorus helps the track to reach it's peak. 

 

5. Resilient

⭐⭐⭐⭐

- the narrative is very strong but the lack of dynamics between the verses and chorus is somewhat a turn down. But the build up in  bridge has paid off to redeem it's rightful place as one of the strongest track in the record.

 

6. Not The End Of The World

⭐⭐⭐

- an impressive misfire considering how grandiose the intro is. The verses are plainly bland, and just relied by repeating the worn off choruses.

 

7. Smile

⭐⭐⭐

- contrast to it's upbeat production, the track isn't adventurous enough to explore it's own potential to be a good Teenage Dream heir. Though it has some of the strongest lyrics.

 

8. Champagne Problems

⭐⭐⭐

- the laid-back syths are way too comfortable, to the point the track has became monotonously unexciting. And the chorus being lazily written didn't help either.

 

9. Tucked

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

- the bubbliness of the production probably resonates her Hummingbird Heartbeat and Act My Age tracks. And with matching playfulness of the lyrics, this song is the easiest to digest relentless.

 

10. Harley's In Hawaii

⭐⭐⭐⭐

- the acoustic guitar successfully sets up the **** tone of the track, and the cleverness of the songwriting also wins to give a slow-burner-like vibe.

 

11. Only Love

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

- the track has no promising melody or production but the way it's been delivered like a journal entry makes it more relatable.

 

12. What Makes A Woman

⭐⭐⭐

- though adorably and delicately produced, the swearings are just unnecessary. Wished the excitement in the second verse leads into something but it ended shortly.

 

🎪 🎪 🎪

 

"Smile"

(6/10)

The record is not a revival of her iconic Teenage Dream but rather a continuation of the PRISM's club inspired contents. And though it lacks with the promising and experimental sound of her ambitious Witness, the narratives and production are surprisingly cohesive, considering the weights of Never Really Over as an opening track has put in.

The tracklisting is also well blended and sync as the album progresses, without hearing the lead singles being aggressively overshadowing the following tracks.

 

Favorite Track(s):

• Never Really Over

• Resilient

• Tucked

• Only Love

 

Least Favorite Track(s):

• Cry About It Later

• Teary Eyes

 

What are your favorites tracks?

 

Related:

 

[SumoCyco2017]

No tracks that didnt make the album surface yet?

[LetsRoll]

3 hours ago, SumoCyco2017 said:

No tracks that didnt make the album surface yet?

this was scrapped

[CHAOTIC STYLE.]

Cry About It Later issa banger sis. 

[Jordan Miller]

Wow!! LOVE the time and attention that went into this. 

I haven't had a chance to fully sink my teeth into the album yet because so much came out last night. I've listened twice in-full though. Looking forward to circling back with my fav tracks.

Thanks again for writing this @Albert Aspera - featured it on the homepage! 

[2K16NEY]

Listening to the album start to finish now. On Teary Eyes now, will report back  

 

Great review BTW. Excited to see how our opinions align 😝

[ALBAVEASP]

9 hours ago, Style. said:

Cry About It Later issa banger sis. 

That was my review for my first initial listen, but after few shuffle plays many things have changed perspectively. 

I started to appreciate Cry About It Later and Not The End Of The World more, however not as the same enthusiasm as Tucked and Resilient.

I think those tracks, CAIL, TE and NTEOTW, are targeting to recreate her pop song material but ending up sounding too formulaic and generic. I will never consider them as a filler but probably not the highlights of the album.

[PickleSpears]

I'm half way through and bored. The best track so far is Never Really Over which at this point we've had for a while. I'm on Not The End Of The World and it reminds me too much of Black Widow.

[SumoCyco2017]

18 hours ago, LetsRoll said:

this was scrapped

I can see why. 

[ALBAVEASP]

12 hours ago, Jordan Miller said:

Wow!! LOVE the time and attention that went into this. 

I haven't had a chance to fully sink my teeth into the album yet because so much came out last night. I've listened twice in-full though. Looking forward to circling back with my fav tracks.

Thanks again for writing this @Albert Aspera - featured it on the homepage! 

Thanks a lot. Would love to hear what do you think about the album.

[PickleSpears]

The verses to What Makes A Woman sound like The Climb

This album is boring songs and songs that sound like other songs. Next.

[ALBAVEASP]

50 minutes ago, PickleSpears said:

The verses to What Makes A Woman sound like The Climb

This album is boring songs and songs that sound like other songs. Next.

If that's what you think, but in some extent I disagree.

This record is probably a step back to Witness' risky and experimental elements but it redeemed the strong songwriting skills Katy has been missing out after PRISM era.

And it's not boring at all but rather less enthusiastic as most tracks used the same formula from her previous pop-synthetic records.

[PickleSpears]

12 hours ago, Albert Aspera said:

If that's what you think, but in some extent I disagree.

This record is probably a step back to Witness' risky and experimental elements but it redeemed the strong songwriting skills Katy has been missing out after PRISM era.

And it's not boring at all but rather less enthusiastic as most tracks used the same formula from her previous pop-synthetic records.

There was nothing about it that made me want to go back and listen for a 2nd time. So I won't.

[sullivanSP]

Tucked is a banger! It’s so catchy. Has potential to be a radio hit in my opinion 

[jordeezy river red]

I was looking forward to the album tracks but they are more generic than the singles.  This album has no "meat", it's all fried chicken skin with a few similar sauces.    

[sparrowhawk]

I was really rooting for Katy with this album. And I still am to be honest. I don't quite understand why it's so short. She could have made it 13/14 tracks long, with one more anthem/club bop produced by Zedd or whichever DJ. Homegirl needed a radio hit. Sadly, no one will be checking for most of this. I'll go against the majority and say I really enjoy "not the end of the world". Should be a single.