Katy Perry 'Smile' + Interview
☆ By Isabella Vega ☆
KATY PERRY - the name itself is enough to spark a vivid memory in anyone who came of age in the 2010s. We all remember the bright blue eyes, candy-themed everything and music so catchy you can probably still recite the words by heart. As a now matured 35-year-old woman who is pregnant with her first child, Perry has gone through highs & lows in the public eye and emerged victorious, but not without a bit of growing pains.
The amalgamation of the worst year of her life is all cataloged in her newest album, Smile. A pure-pop celebration that is reminiscent of Prism and Teenage Dream, the album itself is witty, humorous and at its core, authentic.
The already-released singles, like the fast-paced electronic “Never Really Over”, in which Perry recounts a partner that keeps on returning to her life, & “Daisies”, an uplifting self-empowerment anthem that reminisces on Perry’s humble beginnings, have both been well-received by fans and critics alike. The tracks exclusive to the album show a broader scope of Perry’s musicality and lyrical ability, a talent not too often shared. “Only Love” is an electronically influenced ode to Perry’s loved ones, while the more acoustic “What Makes A Woman” shows Perry’s delicately isolated vocals sweep over some of her most well-written lyrics on the female experience.
1824 of Universal Music Group graciously included The Luna Collective in an online press event celebrating the release of Smile and letting us have a deeper insight into the creation of the album. In this chat, Perry dives into the meaning behind her most vulnerable lyrics, her journey with clinical depression, and how she regained her smile.
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1824: Are there any songs on Smile that have taken on a new meaning to you due to the current state of the world?
PERRY: Yes, there’s quite a few! I wrote this album at one of the darkest times in my life, where I didn’t really want to plan for the next day. I was very flatlined and clinically depressed, which is something I had never dealt with. You know the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?” I’d like to edit that statement to say “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but you have to walk through hell to get that strength.”
This record speaks to my own experience walking through that. Now, I am heavily pregnant, and I am excited to bring life into the world, choose to live, and make plans. There’s songs like “It’s Not The End of The World” or “Teary Eyes” or “Only Love” that talk about how sometimes it’s difficult to change your perspective or mindset. Even “Smile”, “Everyday, groundhog day, going through motions, felt so fake”: I was in this negative loop, and I had to snap out of it. It wasn’t as easy as snapping my fingers, but once I figured out that there was another way of looking at life, I started seeing it with a different view.
To answer the question, cause I could go on forever, but there are a lot of weird parallels. It feels like the end of the world, especially when you read the news, because you don’t know what you’re going to wake up to. There’s a lot of hopefulness and resilience as themes in the record, though, and if someone can adopt those mindsets while listening to the record, then great!
1824: I saw that you made an alternative cover of Smile, which featured fan art. How important is it for you to make fans feel heard and feel like they are a part of the creative process, especially during quarantine?
PERRY: The people have the power, and they always have had the power. And the people remind you when you think that you have the power. Obviously, it’s up to the listener to click the link to listen to an artists’ music. My fans are super creative: they do TikToks, makeup, commercials, it's amazing to see fans respond to the theme of clownery and injecting humor into life’s unpleasant situations.
1824: What has been the defining moment in the last two years that has made you change your sound from a more club-type beat in Witness to the carefree pop in tracks like “Small Talk” and “Daisies”?
PERRY: I’ve always experimented with different sonic landscapes. I’ve always had fun with thinking outside the box, I have never been one to stay inside a “box” musically. I’ve always wanted to do a dance record, and I think I did some of that sonic experimentation on Witness. Maybe I’ll do more “house dance” stuff in the future, maybe I’ll do an acoustic record in the future. I think that this record has a lot of the musical tones of Prism and Teenage Dream. It’s pure pop, and I love that. I like leaning in to the pure pop aspect of my life.
1824: What lyrics do you think took the most courage to write on this album?
PERRY: To face your failures and say “Yeah, I fell flat on my face, but I got back up again” is not always fun to acknowledge, especially publicly. It’s like having billions of in-laws offering a perspective on my life. It’s intense, and you have to shut that out. In Smile, I said: “Had a piece of humble pie, that ego check saved my life.” The universe served me and the moment, I was not excited about it. When I got the ability to zoom out and get perspective, I realized that I would have a greater foundation, greater character, and greater depth because of it. Life gets realer the longer that you live it, but it gets more expansive if you learn to survive it. So, I would say any lyric where I acknowledge my complete failure is a courageous thing , since I think everyone portrays perfectionism, especially in social media and the entertainment industry.
1824: You mention that “What Makes A Woman” is about how women are incredibly versatile. How did that song come about?
PERRY: I am carrying this being inside of me. I’m just like “wow, this is so weird how this works! and so many millions of women have done it before me!”
I came into the studio and said “I want to make a song called “What Makes A Woman” It’s actually a trick question, because can you actually answer what makes a woman? And have it not just continue on forever and ever, and spin out into the universe? If you have a definite statement, you may not be a woman! It’s so expansive, and beautifully complex and undefinable. It’s hard to measure, because women are so many different things.
I have fought against being just 1 thing for a long time, because people like to publicly put me in this box. Especially from 2008 - 2016, people thought I was one thing. Now I’m like “Actually, honey, there’s a lot of layers here, and I’m going to start showing off more of them!” I do believe, and am a strong believer that God made men, and God made women, and we’re both supposed to learn from each other. We both exist for a purpose and a reason, and I think there is so much equality there that needs to happen, but I also believe that we did get the role of being able to magically create other humans.
1824: The current college-age audience has grown up hearing your music on the radio and has witnessed it’s evolution as we have gotten older. What do you think that they can take away from Smile at this age in their lives?
PERRY: I think in some ways, people remember me with the black hair or the blue hair, and all the candy. It will be 10 years since Teenage Dream on August 24. Some of you were 10 or 12 years old, and you had friends and you listened to “California Girls”, and now you’re becoming adults! You’re doing different things, like having to have your own job, your own lives, you’re dealing with college and all of the variables of this year, and the disappointments. I am growing as an adult human/woman, as a soon-to-be-mother, and I am constantly sharing my journey. I am definitely not in the 13-year-old state of mind anymore, so, yes, maybe these themes are a little more mature, but I think everyone has grown up. I have grown up with my audience.
1824: You’ve done a lot of work working with women and the LGBTQ+ community, how do you see yourself speaking to them throughout this album?
PERRY: I’m just grateful for the journey and growth. Everyday you’ve got to push yourself to evolve mentally and when you look back at yourself in 10 years, and think “Oh, I did/said this'', you can be also grateful that you have grown from that, and be empowered that that is not your mindset anymore. For me, growing up, it was very much one frame of mind, and kind of sheltered and restricted, I really broke out of that mold and had to do some reeducation. I guess I was born innately with this sense of justice for everyone. I’m a people person, and I’m in the business of people and I love when people connect, I love when people fulfill their purpose, and feel love and joy. Whenever I see inequality in any way, shape, or form, it stirs me and makes me furious. I do it in my own way, I think a lot of that is through representation and local work.
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