Perry's title single is radio-friendly and ties together the theme of the album.
Katy Perry released the title single from her upcoming album, Smile, this past Friday, July 10. The uptempo song is pure Perry and is sure to be featured on the radio soon. However, even with the positive lyrics, the song isn’t as strong as some of her previous singles for her fifth studio album.
The song starts off with swinging production and even samples the song ‘Jamboree’ by hip-hop trio Naughty by Nature. Opening with the chorus, the song has a strong start and you can tell immediately that it was meant to be a late contender for song of the summer. Perry tweeted that she “wrote the title track from the album when [she] was coming through one of the darkest periods of [her] life and had lost [her] smile. This whole album is [her] journey towards the light - with stories of resilience, hope, and love.”
The lyrics struck me as simple, but they do have a positive message. “Yeah, I’m thankful/Scratch that, baby, I’m grateful/Now you see me shine from a mile/Finally got back that smile, smile” Perry sings on the chorus. Frankly, even though we all need to smile a little bit more in 2020, this song just didn’t do it for me. With a lot of hits under her belt (‘Teenage Dream,’ ‘Hot N’Cold,’ and ‘Firework’ just to name a few), ‘Smile’ seems formulaic and follows the pattern of her other radio hits.
However, the theme of the song fits the album nicely, even if the song wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to hear when I pushed play. I really thought that Perry was going to release a more stripped down album, similar to Miley Cyrus releasing Malibu, especially after hearing ‘Daisies’ and ‘Never Worn White.’
Aside from all that, I really do think that this song will be played a lot on the radio due to its upbeat music and uplifting lyrics. As I was writing this, I heard the song featured in a Target commercial. I’m excited to listen to Perry’s upcoming album and I’m glad that she finally got back her smile.
SMILE WILL BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 14. STREAM THE TITLE TRACK HERE.
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