Witness (Katy Perry album)
Witness is the fifth studio album by American singer Katy Perry. It was released on June 9, 2017, by Capitol Records. For the album, Perry worked with numerous producers, including Jeff Bhasker, Mark Crew, Duke Dumont, Jack Garratt, Oscar Holter, Illangelo, Ilya, Max Martin, Ali Payami and Shellback. Witness is an electropop album that delves into dance and EDM genres, with lyrics on self-empowerment and feminism. Perry described it as an album of "liberation" and "purposeful pop".
Witness
June 9, 2017
2016–2017
- Australia (The Grove)
- Atlanta, Georgia (Tree Sound, Snow Problem Park Place Plaza)
- Burbank, California (Glenwood Place)
- Los Angeles (MXM, Lama Lama, Unsub, Blasé Boys Club, Green Oak, Henson Recording, The Record Plant)
- Stockholm, Sweden (MXM, Wolf Cousins)
- Santa Barbara, California (Secret Garden)
- New York (Jungle City)
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Five singles aided Witness, out of which, three were released before the album and one reached the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart: the lead single, "Chained to the Rhythm" featuring Skip Marley, peaked at number four on the Hot 100. "Bon Appétit" featuring Migos peaked at number 59, while "Swish Swish" featuring Nicki Minaj reached number 46. "Save as Draft" and "Hey Hey Hey" were released as subsequent singles on June 26, 2017 and January 12, 2018, respectively, with "Hey Hey Hey" receiving a music video. To support the album's release, Perry broadcast herself on a four-day YouTube live-stream, titled Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide. Upon release, critics were divided towards the album. Some criticized the production and lyricism, while others welcomed the album's personal nature and singled out certain tracks for praise.
Moving 180,000 album equivalent units in its first-week, Witness debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming Perry's third chart-topping album in the country. The album also topped the charts in Canada and Spain, while reaching number two in Australia, South Korea, Mexico, and New Zealand and the top five region in nine other territories. To promote the album, Perry embarked on her fourth concert tour, Witness: The Tour. Prior to the release of the album, Perry had not released new material in four years, with the exception of the 2016 Summer Olympics anthem, "Rise". After releasing Prism (2013) and touring in 2014–2015, Perry went on hiatus to protect her mental health and to return afresh.[3] Perry decided to shed her on-stage persona and embrace her self-proclaimed authentic self as Katheryn Hudson, her real name. As a result, she retired her long, dark hair for a short pixie cut, and adopted her natural blonde hair color.[4]
Development
Following the release of her fourth album Prism in 2013 and the end of the Prismatic World Tour in October 2015, Katy Perry told The New York Times in February 2016 that she was in the "research and development phase" of a new album.[5] She decided to take a hiatus after the tour concluded to "give my mental health a break" before starting to write new songs the following June.[3] Perry felt "refreshed" after the hiatus, and had over 40 tracks "in progress" before the year ended.[6] In August, the singer stated that she aspired to make material "that connects and relates and inspires"[7] and told Ryan Seacrest that she was "not rushing" her fifth album, adding "I'm just having a lot of fun, but experimenting and trying different producers, and different collaborators, and different styles."[8] The album marked a departure from long time producer and co-writer Dr. Luke.[9] In February 2017, Perry stated that the album was "definitely a new era for me" and "an era of purposeful pop" she was proud of.[10] Later that month, she told Capital FM that "I've got something swirling, but I think I want to put out some songs first before I give them the full meal."[11] The following May, Perry revealed to Entertainment Weekly that the album would include 15 of the 40 songs she wrote for it, and described the record as "fun and dance-y and dark and light."[12]
Composition
Musically, Witness is an electropop album,[13] containing influences of dance and EDM.[14] As analyzed by Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club, hooks are in short supply, replaced by grooves and atmosphere that pick and choose elements from 1990s house music, mainstream EDM, electro-tinged hip-hop, and 1980s new wave.[15]
Witness opens with the title track, an electronic song backed by a 1990s house piano.[16] "Hey Hey Hey" asserts that women can be complex people with a multitude of personality traits, as noted by Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club, "Hey Hey Hey" depicts a narrow version of femininity and success and it perpetuates irksome stereotypes about strong women.[15] "Roulette" is an EDM song described as "explosive" by Christopher R. Weingarten from Rolling Stone.[17] "Swish Swish" runs throughout a house-influenced beat[18][17] and contains a sample from "Star 69" by Fatboy Slim which itself samples "I Get Deep" by Roland Clark.[19] "Déjà Vu" is "an electro-R&B ballad about wanting to free oneself from a dead-end relationship."[20] "Power" is an electro[21] composition, which explores a theme of self empowerment, Jillian Males from Pitchfork noted that the song "approximates feminism by politicizing a personal struggle for control."[22]
Commercial performance
In the United States, Witness debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 180,000 album-equivalent units, which included 162,000 pure album sales. It became Perry's third album to top the country's chart after Teenage Dream (2010) and Prism (2013) both debuted at number one. The record had the highest opening in the US for a female since Lady Gaga's Joanne in 2016 and became the second album by a female artist from 2017, after Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, to open atop the chart.[54] Witness dropped to number 13 on the Billboard 200 the following week, earning 28,000 album-equivalent units and selling 18,000 copies.[55] According to Billboard, it was the country's eighth-highest performing album of the 2017 summer season, earning 431,000 album-equivalent units in the nation by September 2017.[56] It has sold 311,000 copies there as of August 2020.[57] Witness also became Perry's third album after Teenage Dream and Prism to open at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 23,000 units in its first week.[58] The record subsequently descended to number four one week later.[59] That November, it received a Platinum certification from Music Canada (MC).[60] The album additionally entered at number one in Spain,[61] and fell to number 13 in its second week.[62]
In New Zealand, Witness entered the albums chart at number two.[63] In Australia, it also debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart with opening sales of 5,794 copies.[64] Selling another 2,069 the following week, it reached a total of 7,863 copies sold within the nation.[65] The record has since been certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[66] In Japan, the album opened at number 22 on the Oricon Albums Chart,[67] and moved up to number 19 the next week.[68] In the United Kingdom, Witness debuted at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart, where it became Perry's third top 10 album, following Teenage Dream and Prism.[69] According to the Official Charts Company, it opened with 16,153 album-equivalent units in the nation.[70] As of January 2018, Witness has sold more than 840,000 copies worldwide.[71]
Notes
Sample credits