What is destined for a pop giant after a career streak that rivals the likes of Michael Jackson, followed by an eight year critical and commercial dry spell? Well, in most cases, an effort at a comeback. The comeback, as a concept, has traces throughout pop history. Just think of Madonna’s personal and sonic enlightenment on 1998’s Ray of Light, or Mariah Carey’s 2005 LP The Emancipation of Mimi, which redefined the diva’s career after a tough couple of years. When a pop star, particularly a woman in pop, encounters a rough period in their career, a comeback is begged for by adoring fans and often desperately sought after for redemption — if not entirely commercial, at least critically successful.
Pop icon Katy Perry finds herself in the position of the divas before her, gunning for a giant pop comeback to redeem her career from her last two LP’s, 2020’s Smile and 2017’s Witness, that struggled to connect with audiences in the way earlier career highs did. Her new single, “Woman’s World,” arrives in a post-Barbie (2023) world, intended to add another standard to her collection of empowering anthems, but sounds slightly off the pulse of current day pop culture. Despite its uncomplicated structure and unfortunate choice of collaborators, the single does manage to deliver some straightforward feel-good dance floor pulse, aided by vivacious synth and Perry’s strong vocals.
If there’s one thing Perry has a penchant for, it’s an empowering pop anthem. Her catalog is marked by an impressive amount of uplifting cuts about freedom, sexuality and empowerment, including 2013’s “Roar,” 2016’s “Rise” and 2020’s “Daisies.” This concept of liberation and empowerment seems to be a favorite among Perry’s source material, no matter how many times she decides to pen another track about rising above and prevailing despite the odds. “Woman’s World” comes nearly a year after Greta Gerwig’s Barbie seized pop culture at large and inspired conversations about what its notion of feminism looks like and who it includes (or excludes).
“Woman’s World” approaches feminism in a direct format, simply listing off adjectives describing what Perry defines as a woman: “Sexy, confident/So intelligent/She is heaven-sent/So soft, so strong.” She bursts into proclamation on the chorus, declaring, “You better celebrate/’Cause, baby, we ain’t goin’ away/It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be livin’ in it,” assisted by thudding bass and expansive synth. The result is expertly catchy and guarantees to ring through the listeners mind for hours after listening. Is the song a little bit corny, given how many other times she’s sung about self-liberation? Maybe. But what many critics miss is that this is purely Perry’s MO. After the last several years of her campy and sometimes outlandish attempts at resonant pop excellence, should anybody really be shocked that she’d opt for a slightly outdated model of the anthems that she made her fortune on? Especially in a media ecosystem that seems to regularly plead for a resurgence of the “fun” pop music that defined the 2010’s. Though the result of “Woman’s World” doesn’t quite capture the booming pop bliss of her record-setting Teenage Dream days, the song shows off what Perry does best: deliver an upbeat, if not a little corny, pop banger that’s easy to dance to.
But despite how catchy the song may be, a disconnect forms between the single’s message of female empowerment and the team of creatives behind it. The song is co-written and co-produced by Dr. Luke, known as Łukasz Gottwald, who only last year settled a near decade-long legal battle with the singer Kesha over her claims of sexual assault and his claims of defamation. Despite the claims against him and the grueling legal battle, Gottwald has continued to assist an extensive number of projects in the pop landscape, including Doja Cat’s “Say So,” Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” and a large majority of Kim Petras’ catalog.
Is teaming up with an alleged abuser the best move to make when promoting feminism and liberation? Quite the opposite. Perry’s choice to work with the megaproducer after such extensive controversy surrounding him is puzzling, to say the least. Especially when the result doesn’t quite match up to the greatness of her earlier hits assisted by him. Gottwald’s work on the song, and anticipated involvement on Perry’s upcoming album, 143, risks overshadowing a long-overdue comeback for the singer, but such are the unfortunate consequences of a major collaborative misstep. With “Woman’s World” setting the stage for 143, one can only hope that Perry might shake her union with controversial figures to ensure she gets the comeback she undoubtedly deserves.
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