Katy Perry seemed poised for a comeback. The singer’s early output has undergone a favorable critical reevaluation of late, and her Video Vanguard performance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards was a reminder that, just a decade ago, she was capable of churning out a seemingly endless stream of radio hits. Perry’s style of maximalist pop, no longer in vogue by the late 2010s, has been experiencing a revival, as evidenced by the breakout success of artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.
But such hopes were quickly dashed when Perry dropped “Woman’s World,” a platitude-filled exercise in feminist sloganeering that found her reuniting with longtime collaborator Dr. Luke (she temporarily ceased working with the producer until after his legal dispute with fellow pop singer Kesha was resolved). It didn’t help that TikTokers noticed similarities between Perry’s declarations of “sexy, confident, so intelligent” and a joke song that people sing to their dogs.
Mercifully, Perry’s attempt at delivering a socially conscious message on 143 ends with “Woman’s World.” But the remainder of the album boasts lyrics that range from the insipid (“I wanna know the truth/Even if it hurts me,” she confesses on “Truth”) to the nonsensical (“I’m on a new vibration/Yeah I, I need some medication,” she declares on “Crush”).
Throughout 143, whose default setting is lifeless EDM beats, Perry recruits an eclectic array of guest talent, but most of them turn in half-hearted verses. On “Gimme Gimme,” Atlanta rapper 21 Savage sounds bored as he delivers jokey lines like “I’m like Amazon ‘cause I got what you need,” while “Gorgeous” finds Kim Petras reaching a lyrical nadir with “Da Vinci, Da Vinci my body.” Of the guest performers, only Doechii delivers with a genuinely charismatic and dynamic performance, but neither she nor a sample of Crystal Waters’s 1991 club hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” can save the plodding “I’m His, He’s Mine.”
There are a few bright spots on 143, though none of them reach Perry’s peak output. “Lifetimes,” like many the songs here, is built around a generic house beat, but a relatively strong melodic hook is a reminder that Perry and her collaborators are still capable of writing some earworms. And the song’s trite theme of eternal love, which also informs the album’s closing track, “Wonder,” feels sweetly sincere when you realize it’s directed toward Perry’s daughter Daisy.
But despite those moments, and the album’s generally upbeat vibe, 143 feels surprisingly joyless. Coming from one of pop’s premier hitmakers, who once roared with apparent confidence and invincibility, it shouldn’t be so hard to dig up more gems.
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