21. June 2025
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Media Review

Katy Perry – Smile

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Katy Perry - Smile

Katy Perry - Smile
2.9

Rating

 2.9/5

Happy days for Katy Perry: just a few days after she and actor Orlando bloom announced the birth of their first daughter Daisy Dove, there is another reason to Smile for Perry: her new album (with the according title) was released on 28th August 2020. Here are my thoughts about her fifth studio album.

 

Katy Perry – About The Artists

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, which is the civil name of Katy Perry, was born on 25th October 1984 in Santa Barbara, California. After doing a typical young age music career with gospel and church singing, she even signed her first record deal in 2001 as Katy Hudson. Her self-titled debut album was not successful, Wikipedia records a worldwide sale of 200 units. However, her debut as Katy Perry under a new label seven years later was already a huge international success: the first album One of the Boys sold seven million units, obviously driven by I Kissed a Girl, which almost topped the charts everywhere. Also the second single of the album, Hot n Cold, sold huge.

Multiple tracks of the following album Teenage Dream went Number One in different markets – undoubtedly, you could name Perry already a global superstar at that time. The 2013 album Prism was fired by the worldwide success of Roar. The album Witness, which has been released in 2017, did top the charts in the US and Canada, but could not produce any song, which was even close to the previous success on the singles side.

 

Katy Perry – Smile – Track by Track

The twelve song album lasts 37 minutes. There is also a Fan Edition which features for additional tracks.

1. Never Really Over

Likely, this first track of the album feels very familiar to you – Never Really Over has in fact been released in April 2019 – even for superstars, the music release cycles became quite long. Nice pop track, but no superb track as well.

 

2. Cry About It Later

Yeah, Pop songs are fine to be simple – and that also means that they can be repetitive. But thus, they always have the risk of being thin. If you put in the verse I’ll cry about it later 24 times in a 3:09 minutes track, you need some other elements to create a good song. In my point of view Cry About It Later is somehow catchy for the moment, but no long-lasting memory.

3. Teary Eyes

Teary Eyes is that kind of music you like to listen to in a bar… when you in fact don’t want to dance, but have a nice chat with friends. Good rhythm, nice melody, decent. Is that the music I expect from Katy Perry? I struggle with it… Songs like I Kissed a Girl were rather like “Damn, we are having a great chat, interesting topic, but I just have to daaaaaance”….

4. Daisies

Is her daughter named after that song? Vice versa? I have no idea, but Daisies is definitely one of the most interesting tracks on the album. Like it.

5. Resilient

I know there’s gotta be rain
If I want the rainbows
And I know the higher I climb
The harder the wind blows
Yeah, I’ve gone to sleep
Night after night punching a pillow
But do you know the darker the night
The brighter the skies glow

The track may feel to be a bit hidden in this album, but I definitely like it. It is definitely one of the most interesting tracks on the story / lyrics side. The melodic side is rather decent, but that gives a great focus on the vocals. Nice!

6. Not the End of the World

I struggle with this track again. On the one hand, it is a nice pop track, on the other it feels a bit disoriented to me. The reference to the good old Steam classic Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Good Bye feels not necessary.

7. Smile

Smile is powerful with a touch of being angry. Interesting that the lyrics Not myself, not my best // Failed I failed the test is some sort of excuse for her previous album. The album also references her suffering from depressions. One of the best songs of the albums to me.

8. Champagne Problems

‘Cause baby, all we got
Is champagne problems now

Like so many tracks on Smile, Katy Perry delivers a nice pop song. But overall, that’s it. Katy Perry’s aim should be to do better than that.

9. Tucked

I keep you tucked away inside my head
Where I can find you anytime I want to, baby

I like the lyrics in here. Overall, one of the better songs of the album. It has a catching element, even though part of it is the childish Na na na in the chorus.

10. Harleys in Hawaii

Without knowing it is a Katy Perry one, how would you expect a song called Harleys In Hawaii to feel and sound like? I want to hear summer, maybe power (guitars? rock?). Instead, this is a thin, kind of boring pop track. It is a Katy Perry one. Not mine.

11. Only Love

Only Love has a touch of the big success stories of Katy Perry. Just a touch, but it just feels much more than superstar pop music than most other songs on this album.

12. What Makes a Woman

Could spend your whole life but you couldn’t
Describe what makes a woman
She’s always been a perfect mystery
Could spend your whole life but you couldn’t
Describe what makes a woman
And that’s what makes a woman to me

For the final song, Katy Perry grabs the acoustic guitar (later, the instrumentation gets wider) and plays this wonderful song. Unfortunately, it is the final one – and it is 2:11 minutes. Would that much like to hear more of that Katy Perry sound.

 

Katy Perry – Smile – Spotify

Here is the Spotify widget for Katy Perry’s 2020 album:

 

Katy Perry – Smile – My View

Smile is a Katy Perry roller coaster ride to me – it goes up and down. Unfortunately. the climbs are not too steep, the speed is not too high and there are no loopings or really thrilling elements. She did somehow excuse for Witness in this album. Unfortunately, I have to say that I am not sure if she has to do the same again in her following album. However, there are these moments, which tell you how much potential she really has. Would love to hear it again in the next one.

 

Pop Music on Flyctory.com

Here are all postings related to Pop Music:

 

All “classic” blog posts

No reviews – just debating and certain topics – these are my “traditional” blog posts in the categories Just blogging, Just blogging on music and Sports Blogging:

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