Katy Perry Gets Back Her ‘Smile’ In Empowering Title Track

KatyCats have a treat in store for them. On Thursday, Katy Perry had her fans excited by revealing the circus-themed cover art for her upcoming album Smile. Just a day later, the singer has dropped the Album’s title track of the same name.

After teasing her fans for weeks, Katy not only revealed the name of Smile, but she also released its signature song. The single has a playful, bouncy beat, that perfectly matches Smile‘s clown-themed artwork.

“This album is my journey towards the light”

Despite all the poppy imagery, Katy indicated “Smile” represents a moment in her life when the last thing she wanted to do was crack a grin.

“I wrote the title track from the album when I was coming through one of the darkest periods of my life and had lost my smile.” Perry wrote in an Instagram post. “This whole album is my journey towards the light, with stories of resilience, hope, and love.”

“But every tear has been a lesson/Rejection can be God’s protection/Long hard road to get that redemption/ But no shortcuts to a blessin.” The Californian native sings, reflecting on the low point in her life.

Recent Singles

The Roar singer has released multiple singles in recent months, including “Daisies,” which she sang for YouTube‘s celebration of 2020 graduates. The list also includes, “Harleys in Hawaii,” “Small Talk,” “Never Really Over,” and “365.”

Perry even announced she was expecting a baby with fiancé Orlando Bloom through her stunning music video for her single, “Never Worn White.”

Revealing the Album Cover

The quirky singer revealed the album cover earlier this week with an innovative gimmick involving a virtual balloon game. To find out the name of her album, KatyCats had to tweet to pop virtual balloons. Like an actual carnival game.

Her excited fans figured it out soon enough and “won” the game. Their prize was the title of the album, which is due on Aug. 14, as well as the cover art. Smile‘s artwork depicts Katy as a glum clown in a blue and white checkered suit and a big red nose. The album’s title is written as if it’s an actual smile.

So far, the singer has teased songs titled “Teary Eyes” and “What Makes a Woman,” which could potentially be on the new album.

When Katy was in a dark place

Smile is Katy’s first album since 2017’s Witness, which wasn’t a critical or commercial success. The unexpected reception of her record happened around the same time that she had a breakup with her current fiancé, Orlando Bloom.

“My career was on this trajectory when it was going up, up and up. And then I had the smallest shift, not that huge from an outside perspective. But for me, it was seismic,” she said. “I had broken up with my boyfriend, who is now my baby-daddy-to-be. I was excited about flying high off the next record, and the record didn’t get me high anymore. The validation didn’t get me high, and so I just crashed.”

“It was like a necessary brokenness,” she said. “It was so important for me to be broken. So that I could find my wholeness in a whole different way. Be more dimensional than just living my life like a thirsty pop star all the time. Gratitude is probably the thing that saved my life, because if I didn’t find that, I would have wallowed in my own sadness and probably just jumped. I just wake up, and I say, ‘Thank you, God, for today. I am grateful in every way.”

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