Pitchfork Reviews 143

[RAMROD 104,132]

 

Drifting through the winds of popular culture and probably wanting to start again at least occasionally, it seems reasonable to assume that in 2024, Katy Perry feels like a plastic bag.

It’s dumbfounding that at this critical juncture in her career, 143 is the record she is releasing. Despite reuniting with writer-producer Dr. Luke in an ostensible search for past glory, 143sounds phoned in. The material here is so devoid of anything distinguishing that it makes one suspicious it’s a troll or cynical attempt for the campy realm of so bad it’s good. No stranger to a thrashing, Perry might as well have transformed into a fish, jumped into a barrel, and told critics, “Shoot me!” Regardless of intent, it’s possible to read this album as a metatext on the disposability of so much pop. 143 is Perry saying, “Nothing matters,” except instead of a “lol” preceding it, it’s a heart-hand emoji.

143 is a very confident album, but after one highly scrutinized flop and an entirely ignored one (which is more tragic?), said confidence is misplaced and comes without real swagger. There’s nothing about Perry’s voice that suggests she’s right for an album of straight dance music, even if that's not exactly what 143is—she’s prone to Broadway-ish belting with the slightest, whitest vibrato and emotionally, there’s a consistent edge to Perry’s voice that often sounds angry or stressed. The causal rage paired well with the guitars that characterized her early hits and gradually evaporated from her sound.

How little Perry has to say is stunning. Four decades of female experience (and six writers) yield generic girl-power sentiment like: “Sexy, confident/So intelligent/She is heaven-sent/So soft, so strong.” Perry sings “Woman’s World” with the deliberateness English speakers use when trying to convey something to someone who doesn’t speak the language. When she does weave evocative imagery, the vibes are off. “Say the right thing, maybe you can be/Crawlin’ on mе like a centipedе,” is supposed to be a come-on in the horny “Gimme Gimme” but yuck, who wants bugs in their bed? “Lifetimes,” whose rolling pianos are supposed to evoke rave but end up sounding like slightly sped up Rhye, pays tribute to her daughter in a string of choruses that all say the same thing: “I’ll love you for life,” “I’m gonna love you till the end,” and “Baby you and me for infinity.” The tension-and-release low end of the track yields not drops but gentle puts. This is kiddie-coaster EDM.

The guests here—Kim Petras, Doechii, JID, and 21 Savage—seem at best obliged, at worst blackmailed. Max Martin nabs a co-production credit on the Petras-featuring “Unholy” rip-off “Gorgeous,” and it has not a lick of that special Martin spice. 21 Savage drops some of his worst-ever bars, which is actually a feat given his record, but at least his contribution deprives Perry of being responsible for 143’s worst lines, though barely—in the “E.T.” rip-off about A.I., she sings, “I’m just a prisoner in your prison.”

Like Witness, 143 is a spectacular flop, but it’s a strange one—like one of those restaurants that looks nice and has an expensive menu but serves food so mid as to be insulting. It’s worse than awful. At least awful is something you can direct your rage at, deriving catharsis in the process. Aside from some fleeting hellacious decisions, like the jump scare of a warbling child’s voice that opens the cloying final track “Wonder,” 143 is mostly just…there. The flop cycle is a hard thing to get out of. For one thing, popularity begets popularity. Absent that kind of momentum, a dimmed star needs a once-in-a-career single like “We Belong Together” or “What’s Love Got to Do With It” to shake her from her funk. 143 has no such undeniable classic. So now what? Consider what occurs to one’s sense of self when universal praise dries up—that kind of identity-dissolution is woven into 143’s chintzy fabric. One day you’re ablaze, burning yourself into corneas the world over. Then you’re just a smoky outline of what you once were. And then you’ve disappeared entirely. Just like a firework.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/katy-perry-143/

Edited September 24 by RAMROD

[eddyjeddy 1,305]

too high

[Bradley 57,122]

Surprised it's not 1.43

[hijadeputa 3,482]

4.5 of 10 right? Not 4.5 of 5? Either way it’s too high 

[Vitleysingur 13,735]

The fact that even a 4.5 from Pitchfork will bring up her Metacritics score

Edited September 24 by Vitleysingur

[OMF 3,122]

That review was so harsh yet sadly I do agree.

Edited September 24 by OMF

[SimonBaetens 6,745]

My god they kicked her while she was down. But I can’t say I disagree.

[Roughhouse Dandy 8,398]

This era has been wild to witness™️

[eddyjeddy 1,305]

16 minutes ago, Vitleysingur said:

The fact that even a 4.5 from Pitchfork will bring up her Metacritics score

watch it go down to 3.5 by tomorrow

[tyler k 4,759]

deserved 

[nATAH 42,316]

1 hour ago, RAMROD said:

The guests here—Kim Petras, Doechii, JID, and 21 Savage—seem at best obliged, at worst blackmailed. 

[CyanDante 5,848]

Missed opportunity for 4.3

[KevinWright 1,523]

1 hour ago, RAMROD said:

Like Witness, 143 is a spectacular flop, but it’s a strange one—like one of those restaurants that looks nice and has an expensive menu but serves food so mid as to be insulting. It’s worse than awful.

[phantasmas 9,927]

But is it better than EMOTION?? 

Spoiler

no 

 

[Blackout19 10,452]

i really think this will be her last album