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KATY PERRY |
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Birthday |
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Teenage Dream did its job. With its five number one singles, the 2010 album turned Katy Perry into a genuine superstar, the kind of musician whose image rivaled her music in popularity, the kind who could topline her own 3-D theatrical documentary, the kind whose name became shorthand for a sugar-pop sensibility. This meant there was only one thing left for her to do on its 2013 sequel, Prism: to make a graceful pivot from teen dream to serious, mature artist. Prism hits these marks precisely yet isn´t stuffy, not with its feints at trap-rap, but even with the preponderance of nightclub glitz, there isn´t a shadow of a doubt that Katy Perry has toned down her cheesecake burlesque, opting for a hazy, dreamy, sun-kissed hippie Californian ideal that quietly replaces the happily vulgar pinup of her earliest years. All the lingering nastiness of One of the Boys — the smiling Mean Girl backstabbing of "Ur So Gay," for instance — and the pneumatic Playboy fantasy of Teenage Dream are unceremoniously abandoned in favor of Perry´s candy construct of a chipper, cheerful grown-up prom princess, the popular girl who has left all her sneering dismissals in the past. Perry remains a terminal flirt but she channels her energies into long-term relationships — the sexiest song, "Birthday," is a glorious retro-disco explosion delivered to a steady boyfriend, while elsewhere she testifies toward unconditional love — and the overall effect transforms Prism into a relatively measured, savvy adult contemporary album, one that´s aware of the latest fashions but is designed to fit into Katy´s retirement plan. Ultimately, this makes Prism a tighter, cleaner record than its predecessors — there are no extremes here, nothing that pushes the boundaries of either good taste or tackiness; even when she cheers on excess on "This Is How We Do" she´s not a participant but rather a ringmaster, encouraging her fans to spend money they don´t have just so they can have a good time. Ultimately, this sense of reserve reveals just how canny Katy Perry really is: she´s determined to give her career a dramatic narrative arc, eager to leave behind the bawdy recklessness of her early years in favor of something that´s age appropriate. That´s why the lead single from Prism was "Roar," an homage to Sara Bareilles so transparent that the singer/songwriter may deserve co-credit: the inspirational adult contemporary single signaled how Perry no longer views herself as a fluffy confection but rather a showbiz staple who´ll be here for years and years, and Prism fully lives up to that carefully constructed ideal. [An LP version added three bonus tracks.] |
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15.06.2014 |
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Capitol Records |
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