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Katy Perry has spent the last week begging us to pre-save her new single, "Lifetimes." After the disastrous reception to its predecessor "Woman's World," it's easy to see why she might need to do the extra legwork.
Perry's would-be pop comeback suffered a massive setback in July, when the attempted satire of "Woman's World," the lead single for Perry's new album, "143," failed to resonate with fans. Even worse, the song and video were mocked as out of touch and offensive.
"It's a career crisis," Eric Schiffer, a PR expert and chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, told Business Insider of the reception to Perry's new music. The onslaught of negative headlines isn't helping Perry reintroduce herself to millennials and establish herself with a new Gen Z audience, either: "It can be a bloodbath to a brand like hers," he said.
For a musician in the doghouse, a new release can offer redemption — but only if it's good enough to make people forget why they were disappointed in the first place.
To my ear, "Lifetimes" is not up to the task. Though it's certainly more palatable than Perry's previous attempt (top comments under the "Lifetimes" video on YouTube include, "The fact this wasn't the first song released is criminal," and, "Whoever is responsible for her rollout is diabolical. This is way better than 'Woman's World'") the bar "Lifetimes" needed to clear is very low.
Outside Perry's core fan base, the general reaction has been akin to a shrug. While "Woman's World" dominated social-media discourse during its launch week, "Lifetimes" has failed to inspire much interest at all.
The song, which has eight cowriters, is generally unremarkable and noticeably repetitive. When Perry sings, "I'm gonna love you 'til the end and then repeat it," she isn't kidding. "Lifetimes" is essentially the same five lines repeated ad nauseam for three minutes and 12 seconds.
It's true that recurring lyrics are common in club music, a genre that Perry seems to believe "Lifetimes" belongs to. But that's a fairly laughable claim, especially in the thick of "Brat" summer. If I were dancing at a Boiler Room set in Ibiza (where Perry filmed her latest music video), I would be shocked and appalled if the DJ played "Lifetimes" after something like "365" or "Spring Breakers." As many on social media have noted, Perry's song would slot more naturally into an episode of "Love Island." Hooray for the villa — they won a dance party!
In the real world, authentic club music is mutable, experimental, textured, and often surprising, whereas "Lifetimes" is predictable and formulaic. The best compliment I could muster is that the song has a nostalgic quality, vaguely reminiscent of Perry's 2010s heyday.
But if the best she can do is remind of us a time when her music felt fresh and relevant, hoping our lingering fondness for "Teenage Dream" will carry her through, that's not much of a compliment at all. Schiffer had a similar read, describing "Lifetimes" as "highly outdated and desperate."
"She's going to her playbook and her playbook is done," he said.
It's clear that Perry is hungry to return to the upper echelons of pop stardom. However, the reception to her first two singles — which were met with intense negativity and apathy, respectively — reflects the reality of Perry's current status in pop culture.
This is compounded by the perceived hypocrisy of Perry's collaboration with Dr. Luke, who coproduced and cowrote both "Woman's World" and "Lifetimes."
Although Dr. Luke worked with Perry extensively in the early stages of her career, he became a music industry pariah in 2014 when Kesha sued him for sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. (He has denied all of Kesha's claims. They reached an undisclosed settlement last year.)
For many fans, Dr. Luke's return to Perry's domain has negated any excitement they might have had for new music.
"There's an inauthenticity in trying to highlight female empowerment with a producer who was alleged to have done the opposite," Schiffer explained of Perry's single "Woman's World." "How do you even get out of the gate from a credibility standpoint?"
"It feels like she's still stuck in the past and she's got to modernize," he added. "That is part of what allows a music career to continue. Some can do it and some can't."
Aidan Cullen
As a crisis PR expert, Schiffer said he would advise Perry to evolve, reinvent her sound, and try to attract new, younger fans — instead of just trying to nostalgia-bait her millennial base.
Schiffer said he'd also advise Perry to arrange a sit-down interview in order to "give context to some of her choices," particularly her decision to reunite with Dr. Luke. To win a Gen Z audience, he said, transparency and authenticity are key.
"There's work she's got to do, and it requires a greater level of emotional intelligence than has been applied to date," he said. (To be clear, Perry is not Schiffer's client — not yet, anyway. "I haven't had the call," he said, "but it wouldn't surprise me.")
Despite the dire state of Perry's reputation, her career is not yet a lost cause. After all, we've seen artists like Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Morgan Wallen top the Billboard charts this year, despite accusations of antisemitism and racism, respectively.
"What matters in the rehab of a brand is, are you getting traction with your product?" Schiffer explained. "Her product is music and the first single struggled. The second one seems to have more vigor, but it's early. We'll have to see what occurs as she drops the full album."
"It's achievable if the quality is there," he concluded. "Ultimately, that's the driver."
