Katy Perry dropped the seventh studio album in her discography, “143,” promising a heartfelt journey of fulfillment and musical identity on Sept. 20. 

Unfortunately for this veteran pop singer, the album is a sea of uninspired production that lacks the spark of Perry’s best work. In past years, Perry dominated the charts with catchy songs such as “Firework” and “California Gurls,” releasing unskippable upbeat tunes that were unmistakably Perry. With her declining popularity, “143” reaches to capture the previous magic of her career but falls flat with snooze-worthy repetitive beats and cliche lyrics. 

The release of “143” began with “WOMAN’S WORLD,” a single Perry released on July 11. The song aims to be a fun, upbeat anthem for female empowerment, with the catchy chorus saying, “It’s a woman’s world / and you’re lucky to be living in it.” Though the message of the song is spirited, the superficial lyrics and production provide no meaningful insight. Instead, they employ overused and worn-out phrases that “empower” women by telling them they can be intelligent and sexy. These lyrics have been used time and again, stripping this song of anything that could have made it impactful. 

The next song on the album, “GIMME GIMME,” features rapper 21 Savage and is similarly disappointing. “GIMME GIMME” leans heavily into the dance pop sound, showcasing some of the infectious hooks Perry has been known for in the past. Despite this, it is not the song to listen to if you want anything more than a second grader’s lyricism. The song follows a repetitive mantra of “Gimme, gimme, baby, stop wastin’ my time,” with a verse by 21 Savage that is lackluster in energy. “GIMME GIMME” might get you to bop your head a little, but Perry is not exactly pushing boundaries with this track. 

Comparable to “WOMAN’S WORLD,” “GORGEOUS,” featuring Kim Petras, is a you-go-girl, playful song that lacks depth and repeats the same lyrics over and over again. The track, meant to be a confidence boosting, empowering jam, is superficial in its approach and is unsurprisingly repetitive. The chorus, stating “All my girls look gorgeous / We comin’ out tonight / Grab your man and hold him tight, tight” feels gimmicky and forgettable among its album members. “I’M HIS, HE’S MINE,” featuring Doechii, follows a similar pattern. The song’s concept of love and passion is lost to simplistic beats and juvenile lyrics. The modernistic melody of both songs leaves listeners yawning, and the lyrics do nothing to redeem it. Like every song on this album, “GORGEOUS” and “I’M HIS, HE’S MINE” blend together into background music, not standing out in the album or in the musical world. 

Despite the beginning of the album already lowering the listeners expectations, “CRUSH” still manages to disappoint. “CRUSH” is meant to capture the exhilaration of becoming infatuated with somebody, but it instead encapsulates the boredom of listening to a song that sounds the exact same as the last four you have listened to. Lyrics such as, “Here I go again, I’m falling in love” and “My heart goes / La, da-da-dee-dee” are stereotypical and familiar tropes, common in so many love songs written before. While the upbeat energy may infect the listener for a moment, the excitement is fleeting and not enough to make the listener want to stick around for the entire song. 

“LIFETIMES” is what I would consider the first listenable track on the album. This single, still an upbeat, fast paced song, is reminiscent of something Perry may have produced in the past that led to her imminent fame. Listeners may be reminded of songs like “Bon Appetit” or “Never Really Over” from Perry’s earlier, more popular albums. The instrumentation compliments Perry’s voice and lyrics, though I will not they say are incredibly original, or are endurable and less repetitive than some other songs in the album. The theme of enduring love is overplayed, but the song has an undeniable Perry style that has fans jumping to the beat. 

Listeners can finally breathe a sigh of relief with “ALL THE LOVE” next in the queue. “ALL THE LOVE” is a wonderful showcase of what Perry can do with her musical prowess. This song features a brilliant use of Perry’s impressive vocals and highlights her natural talent for singing. The lyrics of this song are enjoyable to sing along to, reflecting the joy of connection and love. The theme of this track is authentic and relatable and can resonate with listeners on a deeper level than the surface-skimming tracks that came before it. The production of the song is well done as well, with the pop beats not overpowering the instrumental backdrop and enhancing the sound energetically. The chorus of “ALL THE LOVE” is incredibly catchy too as the singer bets, “All the love that I ever lost (came back to me).” The lyrics are sure to get stuck in your head and linger after the first listen. 

 As fast as we climb to the top, we crash back down with the next track, “NIRVANA.” I hate to sound like a broken record, but this record is broken. “NIRVANA” falls in the same category of its mid-level pop song 143 friends with the same basic problems. The song repeats the phrase, “Show me that you’re gonna / Take me to Nirvana,” an excessive number of times, with the verses in between offering no substance either. Lyrics such as, “Feel the rise, I’m tinglin’ / In your eyes, adrenaline,” suggest the topic of the rush and exhilaration of being in love to the listener, but ultimately fall flat. The lyrical themes of “feeling alive” and “feeling so high” have been done before, especially by Perry. Musically, the track does not take any risks or offer anything innovative. The production is polished, but even too much so, leaving the song repetitive. Overall, the song is a replica of all the others on this album, dull and uninspired. 

 Riding the unpredictable wave of “143,” “ARTIFICIAL,” featuring JID, takes us up again. “ARTIFICIAL” is a cheerful, pump-up song on this album that does not miss the mark. The song features a robotic autotune of Perry’s voice in the chorus, supporting the “artificial” theme. The lyrics cover the topic of being “fake” and ingenuine, using clever lines and vibrant production. Lines such as, “Artificial intelligent information / I been developin’ truth / I took a bite into the bitterest forbidden fruit,” are different compared to the unoriginal lines in other songs on “143.” “ARTIFICIAL” is elevated by the cameo by JID, his verse seamlessly integrated into the music. If you want to get on your feet and dance, I recommend listening to “ARTIFICIAL.” The modernistic production of the song adds to this track, considering what it is based on, and the catchy lines are sure to get you on your feet. 

 “TRUTH,” the second to last song on the album, does not do itself any favors. As I continue to repeat myself, the song repeats itself too many times, droning on the lyrics, “I wanna know the truth / Even if it hurt-hurts me.” The topic of the song could be considered original, but the overproduced pop sound drowns out any novelty the song may have had, leaving the listener only thinking, “Haven’t I heard something exactly like this before?” 

As much as the listener may be yearning for a strong closer to make them feel better about wasting their time listening to this album, “WONDER” is a letdown. If you can recall “Chained to the Rhythm,” released by Perry in 2017, you do not even need to listen to “WONDER.” The concept of a dystopian, innocence-stealing world has been done by Perry before and done better. Perry sings, “One day, when we’re older / Will we still look up in wonder?” Perry does not delve deep into the meaning of the song, only singing surface-level lyrics that bore listeners. The only good thing about “WONDER” is it signifies the album is over. 

“143” is a miss on all accounts. Perry’s attempt at a modern pop sound is overproduced, and frankly, does not fit her or the previous Perry style we have come to love. Her song-writing skills lack emotional depth, and the musicality of each song only repeats the song that came before it. Perry claims on her Instagram that the album's purpose was to “share a newfound love, reignited light, confidence in my body and connection to the feminine divine inside of me.” The album misses the mark on these points that may have given it any lasting impact, leaving it to blend in the background of Perry’s discography. Unless you want to feel like you are listening to the same song for 33 minutes and 39 seconds, I recommend you save your half an hour and skip “143.”

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