Katy Perry has officially announced her sixth studio album, “143,” and fans are buzzing with excitement. The pop sensation took to her social media platforms to share snippets of the new tracks, giving a taste of what’s to come. The album is set to drop on September 20 and promises to be a high-energy dance record, something Perry has long aspired to create.
During an Instagram Live session, Perry revealed her enthusiasm for the project. “I’ve been talking about doing two albums for the past eight years: a dance album and an acoustic album,” she said. “I haven’t yet made the acoustic album. Well, we never stop writing. But I finally made the dance album, the album I always wanted to make.”
Perry described the album as “super high energy, super summer, and very high BPM.” She added, “We just had a family dance party to one of the songs, and it’s just full of so much joy, so much love, so much light.”
While signing vinyl inserts for “143,” Perry previewed three songs from the album on both Instagram Live and TikTok Live. The first track she shared was “I’m His He’s Mine,” featuring Doechii, which is built around a sample of Crystal Waters’ 1991 hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless).” She followed this with an upbeat number titled “Nirvana” and another track, “Gimme Gimme,” featuring 21 Savage.
“‘143’ is honestly a dance party,” Perry said on TikTok. “All fandoms, invited. And it’s high energy, lots of love, mostly lots of love and BPM, summer, sexy. And it’s for y’all.”
Perry initially teased this new era last month, announcing that the first single, “Woman’s World,” would be released on July 11, accompanied by a music video. Although no tour dates have been announced yet, Perry mentioned on TikTok that she has cleared her schedule to make room for a potential tour in the near future.
Earlier in the day, Perry, 39, unveiled the album’s cover art, which features an intergalactic image of her floating almost naked in space. The title “143” is a commonly used shorthand for “I love you,” and Perry explained that the album aims to be a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop collection with love as its central theme.
“I set out to create a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic 143 numerical expression of love as a throughline message,” Perry said. The album will be led by the first single, “Woman’s World,” produced by Dr. Luke, which is set to be released on July 11.
During the live preview on TikTok and Instagram, Perry played snippets of a few songs and explained her motivation. “I’ve been talking about doing two albums for the past eight years and that’s a dance album and an acoustic album,” she reiterated. “I haven’t yet made the acoustic album. Well, we never stop writing. But I finally made the dance album, the album I always wanted to make.”
Dressed in jean shorts and a red bra top, Perry signed vinyl inserts for the album and even climbed up on a table to preview the track “Nirvana.” She also debuted the slinky “I’m His He’s Mine,” featuring Doechii, and gave a sneak peek of “Gimme Gimme,” featuring rapper 21 Savage.
“This record is super high energy, it’s super summer, it’s very high BPM,” Perry said. “We just had a family dance party to one of the songs, and it’s just full of so much joy, so much love, so much light.” On TikTok, she added, “143 is honestly a dance party. All fandoms, invited. And it’s high energy, lots of love, mostly lots of love and BPM, summer, sexy. And it’s for y’all.”
Though no tour dates have been announced yet, Perry told her TikTok followers that she’s cleared her schedule to hit the road for her first major tour in more than six years. Following the 2017-2018 Witness tour, Perry had a successful 80-show run of her Play residency at the Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas from December 2021 through November 2023.
“143” will also mark Perry’s studio reunion with producer Dr. Luke, who recently settled a nine-year legal battle with Kesha. The producer had claimed Kesha defamed him in 2014 when she made allegations that he drugged and raped her after a 2005 party. Perry had been dragged into the legal battle at one point, denying allegations that Luke raped her in a July 2021 deposition.
The collaboration with Dr. Luke has led to some fans expressing disappointment, as well as a statement from actress Abigail Breslin, who criticized the decision. At press time, the full extent of Dr. Luke’s involvement in the album was not known.
As anticipation builds for the release of “143,” fans can look forward to a high-energy, love-filled dance album that promises to be a celebration of joy and light.
Source: Variety, Billboard
