Katy Perry’s hair isn’t the only thing that’s shortened in recent months.
When the singer unveiled in February that she’d completed a new album, her first since 2013’s “Prism,” she used the phrase “purposeful pop” to describe the music. Such an expression suggested she had taken on a political edge following the election of Donald Trump.
Given Perry’s established flair for cheeky party tunes such as “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” and vivid young-love songs like the immortal “Teenage Dream,” this felt like reason to worry.
Yet “Chained to the Rhythm,” the album’s lead single, turned out to be great: a sly condemnation of fake news that understands its own role in getting people to “dance to the distortion,” as she puts it over producer Max Martin’s shimmering disco groove.
It was enough to make you want to hear the singer’s deepest thoughts on climate change.
But by April, Perry appeared to have lost interest in purposeful pop. Her next single was the raunchy “Bon Appetit,” complete with a buffet metaphor, followed by “Swish Swish,” her supposed takedown of Taylor Swift (who’d dissed Perry with 2014’s “Bad Blood”). Both failed to crack the top 40.
Now comes the full album, titled “Witness,” and it’s more jumbled still, with would-be self-empowerment anthems next to earnest ballads lamenting the end of a relationship.
“Hey Hey Hey” plays like a weak attempt to duplicate the success of her uplifting 2013 smash “Roar,” this time with a paper-thin tune and clunky words about being “Marilyn Monroe in a monster truck.”
“Roulette” has a sturdier melody but none of the witty specifics of Perry’s earlier exhortations to cut loose; “Bigger Than Me” borrows the sleek sensuality of Selena Gomez’s recent records without adding original flavor.
“Witness” contains strong moments beyond “Chained to the Rhythm,” which still feels like the beginning of an intriguing project, one Perry should return to if our politics continues to devolve (and after she tires of her gig on ABC’s “American Idol” reboot).
Her singing is as forceful as ever in “Pendulum,” a gospel-accented number produced with real swing by Jeff Bhasker, while the slithering “Power” puts her vocals against soulful textures that draw out grit.
And however petty its inspiration, “Swish Swish” is a delight as Perry rhymes “another one in the basket” with “another one in the casket” over a thrusting, house beat.
“Every day’s the same / Definition of insane,” she sings, “I think we’re running on a loop.”
That focus would have been better applied to her work.
