Fallen Idol: Katy Perrys comeback album is nothing to Roar about

Ten years ago, Katy Perry was beefing with Taylor Swift about dancers.The story goes that Perry stole three dancers away from Swift’s “Red” Tour to join her “Prism” Tour. At the time, they were dueling divas at the very top of pop.The feud even inspired Swift to write “Bad Blood,” her chart-topping hit that appeared on her “1989” later in 2014.A decade later, that feels like a whole different era.Perry’s next album, 2017’s “Witness,” was a bust by the standards of 2013’s “Prism” and certainly 2010’s blockbuster “Teenage Dream,” which had a record-tying five No.

1 singles.Then, in 2018, Perry became a well-compensated judge — at a $25 million salary — on “American Idol” when it was revived on ABC.But her own career as a pop idol was sinking just as Swift’s was soaring.Perry’s 2020 “Smile” album failed to produce any Top 10 hits just as Swift’s “Folklore” LP was taking her to new heights. (As Swift genially cheered Perry on during her Video Vanguard Award performance at last week’s MTV VMAs, it was very much clear who had won.)Now, after leaving “American Idol” in May, Perry is refocusing on her recording career with “143,” her seventh studio album — named after her angel number — that dropped on Friday.But a month before she turns 40, this is hardly the comeback that Perry needed.

It’s as if she became a has-been before her time on “American Idol.”The LP is a dance-pop affair that never really finds its groove.There are plenty of other women who have done this kind of thing better in recent years, from Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa to Jessie Ware and Kylie Minogue.Perry, quite simply, feels as if she is playing catch-up.And she did herself no favors by releasing “Woman’s World” as the first single in July.

What was meant to be an empowering anthem turned out to be a problematic track co-written and co-produced by Dr.Luke, the same hitmaker who Kesha claimed had sexually and emotiona...