Smile (Katy Perry album)
| Smile | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The fan edition comes with a lenticular cover[1] while five limited-edition alternate covers were available to pre-order.[2] | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 28, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | 2018–2020 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 36:36 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Katy Perry chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Smile | ||||
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Smile is the sixth studio album by American singer Katy Perry. It was released on August 28, 2020, by Capitol Records, three years after its predecessor Witness (2017). Perry worked with a multitude of producers on the album, including Josh Abraham, Carolina Liar, The Daylights, G Koop, Andrew Goldstein, Oligee, Oscar Görres, Oscar Holter, Ilya, Ian Kirkpatrick, The Monsters & Strangerz, Charlie Puth, Stargate and Zedd. She described Smile as her "journey towards the light, with stories of resilience, hope, and love". It is a pop album, characterized by lyrical themes of self-help and empowerment.
Two singles preceded the album: the lead single "Daisies" was released on May 15, 2020, which peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100; its followup, "Smile", followed on July 10, 2020. Smile also contains Perry's 2019 standalone singles "Never Really Over" and "Harleys in Hawaii" in its standard tracklist. The Japanese and fan editions of the album further includes "Small Talk" (2019) and "Never Worn White" (2020). "Not the End of the World" became a single on December 21, 2020, with an accompanying music video featuring Zooey Deschanel.
Smile received mixed reviews upon release. Music critics were favorable towards Perry's maturing image, but criticized the album's familiar production and lyricism. On the Billboard 200 chart, the album debuted at number 5 with 50,000 units, marking Perry's fifth top-10 album in the United States. Elsewhere, Smile reached the top five in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, the United Kingdom, top 10 in Austria, Ireland, and Italy, and the top 20 in Finland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Background and concept
Smile was conceived following a period of Katy Perry's depression, public criticism, breakup with then-boyfriend and current fiancé Orlando Bloom, and her pregnancy.[3][4][5] In March 2018, Ian Kirkpatrick announced he had worked with Perry on new music. In an interview with The Fader, he stated: "We did a couple of days and she is amazing." He further stated that working with Perry was "someone I've wanted to work with my whole life, and she was literally the most normal, no-ego person."[6]
In March 2020, Perry announced her intentions of releasing "a lot" of new music during the year's summer.[7] In May, she announced "Daisies" as the album's lead single.[8][9] The same month, Amazon Alexa announced the album's release date as August 14, 2020.[10][11] In a June 2020 interview with Billboard, Perry discussed a new song, titled "Teary Eyes".[12] She later confirmed the following month that "Never Really Over" will be on the album.[13] The same month, the album's title was confirmed as Smile, after one of the songs on the album.[14]
Theme and artwork
Perry explained that Smile is about "finding the light at the end of the tunnel", and taking back your smile, and that the album comes from a place where she fell in after her career and relationship with Orlando Bloom hit a low point back in 2017. She discussed struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and stated that gratitude is what saved her life.[15] Perry also defined the album as her "journey towards the light, with stories of resilience, hope, and love".[16] The album's artwork features Perry as "a glum clown with a red nose and a blue and white checkered suit above the title, Smile".[17]
Release and promotion
Perry unveiled the cover artwork of Smile via a Twitter game that involved her fans/followers tweeting about the album to "tweet to pop virtual balloons in order to uncover" the album cover.[17] In August 2020, she announced a limited edition collection of vinyl picture discs and alternative CD packaging for the album. Five alternative covers/vinyl picture disc were available for pre-order for a period of 5 days.[2] Smile was also released as a bone white vinyl,[18] along with a picture disc one,[19] a cassette,[20] and a limited deluxe edition CD, with a lenticular cover,[21] and titled "Fan edition", being the latter available for preorder so far on Perry's[21] and Universal Music Czech Republic's official webstores.[22] On August 2, 2020, a flash sale went up on her online store for five days. This sale featured five limited-edition alternate covers of the standard edition of the album that could only be pre-ordered during this sale.[2] On July 27, 2020, she announced that the album release date had been pushed back to August 28 due to "unavoidable production delays".[23] Smile was released on the said date. On November 9, 2020, she performed "Not the End of the World" live at TMall Double 11 Gala.[24] On November 12, 2020, Perry released a remix of the song "Resilient" with Tiësto and Aitana.[25] Perry performed "Only Love" with Darius Rucker at the American Music Awards of 2020 on November 22, 2020. It marked her first live performance after giving birth to her first child, Daisy Dove Bloom.[26]
Singles
"Daisies" was released on May 15, 2020 as the album's lead single.[27] It debuted at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[28] The title track was released as the second single on July 10, 2020, along with the album pre-order.[29] On December 21, 2020, Katy released "Not the End of the World" as the third single, the single is also included in the compilation EP titled Cosmic Energy.[30][31]
Throughout 2019 and 2020, Perry released four solo songs, originally intended to be non-album singles. "Never Really Over", released on May 31, 2019, was announced to be on Smile by Perry in June 2020.[13] "Harleys in Hawaii", released on October 16, 2019, was revealed to be on the standard track list upon the release of the album pre-order.[32] "Small Talk", released on August 9, 2019, and "Never Worn White", released on March 5, 2020, did not make the standard track list, but ended up as bonus tracks on the "Fan edition" and "Japan edition" of the album.[22]
Promotional single
Perry released "What Makes a Woman" as a promotional single ahead of the album on August 20, 2020.[33] She also released an acoustic version exclusively on her Vevo page.[34] In June 2020, she revealed "What Makes a Woman" is dedicated to her unborn daughter, stating: "That is a hope I have for my future child, is that she doesn't have any limits on any of her dreams, or what she wants to be, or who she thinks she is."[35]
Compilations EPs
Some tracks from Smile were released as part of compilation EPs to streaming platforms. "Tucked" was released as the first track on Camp Katy,[36] "Resilient" was released on Empowered, alongside "What Makes a Woman" as the last track,[37] "Cry About It Later" was released as the first track on Scorpio SZN,[38] and "Not the End of the World" was released as the first track on Cosmic Energy.[39]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 5.3/10[40] |
| Metacritic | 58/100[41] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [42] |
| The A.V. Club | B–[43] |
| Clash | 2/10[44] |
| The Daily Telegraph | [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B–[45] |
| The Independent | [46] |
| The Irish Times | [47] |
| NME | [48] |
| Pitchfork | 5.7/10[49] |
| The Sydney Morning Herald | [50] |
Smile received mixed reviews from critics, who deemed it a solid album, but criticized its familiar sound and "cliched" lyrics.[51] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from publications, the Smile received a weighted average score of 58, based on 18 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[41] AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 5.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[40]
Lindsay Zolandz of The New York Times thought that Smile tries to add brightness to the dark, with a lightness that was absent in its predecessor, Witness (2017).[52] Mark Kennedy of Chicago Tribune deemed the album a course-correction that sets Perry back into pure pop, and labeled most of the album "bit of a bummer" due its apologetic tone.[4] The i newspaper's Joe Muggs complimented the restrained production and Perry's maturation as a pop star, but dismissed the lyrical content as "bit too much self-help book redemption".[53] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Kate Solomon noted that Smile feels very "so earnest that it strays into cringe-worthy territory", but displays the strongest traits of Perry's music: "fizzy bops" and huge hooks.[3]
USA Today writer Patrick Ryan opined that Smile exudes newfound joy, with some of the most carefree songs of the singer's career. However, he criticized the self-empowerment lyrics as clichéd, adding that Perry gives listeners a déjà vu rather than seeking a new musical direction.[5] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly described the album's sound as too familiar, unaltered from Perry's older discography.[45] Craig Jenkins of Vulture found Smile to be lyrically weak, but overall an improvement over Witness, and named the singles as its best tracks.[54] Alexa Camp from Slant Magazine wrote that Perry avoids experimentation by opting to stay "in her lane".[55] Kish Lal of The Sydney Morning Herald branded Smile as falling flat despite the honesty in subjects dealt.[50] Louise Bruton of The Irish Times asserted that the album possesses perfect melodies, but cited the subpar lyrics as a drawback.[47]
In unfavorable reviews, Pitchfork writer Dani Blum dubbed Smile as cliché-ridden pop with confusing platitudes, that is also inapt for the COVID-19 pandemic.[49] The A.V. Club's Alex McLevy opined that Perry is "struggling to be taken seriously", as Smile holds back her ability to evolve, instead of the intended showcase of the singer's "real" side.[43] Stereogum's Chris DeVille wrote the record was dull and unadventurous, and did not believe the lyricism was memorable,[56] while Helen Brown of The Independent called the album forgettable, and found the singer resorting to basics.[46] Hannah Mylrea of NME wrote that the album comprises lackluster imitations and fillers, devoid of the catchy hooks and couplets of Perry's older records.[48] Writing for Clash, Joe Rivers felt Smile lacked substance, and called the production outdated.[44]
Commercial performance
On the US Billboard 200 chart, Smile debuted at number five as Perry's fifth top-10 album and her first album since One of the Boys (2008) to not reach number one. It earned 50,000 album equivalent units in its opening week, out of which 35,000 were sales (aided by merchandise and album bundles sold via Perry's webstore), 14,000 were streaming equivalent units (translating to 19 million on-demand streams of the album's tracks) and 2,000 track-equivalent units.[57] The album fell 49 spots to number 54 in its second week,[58] and spent a total of 4 weeks on the Billboard 200.[59] As of March 2021, the album has sold 67,000 copies and accumulated 402,000 equivalent album units in the United States.[60]
Smile opened at number five on the Canadian Albums Chart[61] and UK Albums Chart, earning 8,579 units in the latter.[62] In Ireland, the album entered at number nine on the Irish Albums Chart, marking Perry's fifth consecutive top-10 album in the country.[63] Smile debuted at number two on Australia's ARIA Albums Chart, blocked from the top spot by Metallica's live album S&M2 (2020).[64] In New Zealand, the album opened at number four on the NZ Top 40 Albums Chart,[65] while on Japan's Oricon Albums chart, it arrived at number 39.[66] In Germany, Smile debuted and peaked at number 14.[67]
Accolades
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APRA Music Awards | Most Performed Pop Work | "Never Really Over" | Nominated | [68] |
| BreakTudo Awards | Anthem of the Year | "Daisies" | Nominated | [69] |
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Cinematography | "Harleys in Hawaii" | Nominated | [70] |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Never Really Over" |
| 3:43 | |
| 2. | "Cry About It Later" |
| 3:09 | |
| 3. | "Teary Eyes" |
|
| 3:02 |
| 4. | "Daisies" |
|
| 2:54 |
| 5. | "Resilient" | 3:07 | ||
| 6. | "Not the End of the World" |
|
| 2:58 |
| 7. | "Smile" | 2:46 | ||
| 8. | "Champagne Problems" |
|
| 3:16 |
| 9. | "Tucked" |
|
| 3:07 |
| 10. | "Harleys in Hawaii" |
|
| 3:05 |
| 11. | "Only Love" |
|
| 3:18 |
| 12. | "What Makes a Woman" |
| 2:11 | |
| Total length: | 36:36 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Message from Katy" | 3:31 | ||
| 14. | "High On Your Supply" |
| 4:00 | |
| Total length: | 44:07 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Small Talk" |
|
| 2:41 |
| 14. | "Never Worn White" |
|
| 3:45 |
| 15. | "Daisies" (acoustic) |
|
| 3:05 |
| 16. | "Daisies" (Oliver Heldens remix) |
| 3:35 | |
| Total length: | 49:42 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Message from Katy" | 3:31 | ||
| 14. | "High On Your Supply" |
| 4:00 | |
| 15. | "Small Talk" |
|
| 2:41 |
| 16. | "Never Worn White" |
|
| 3:45 |
| 17. | "Daisies" (acoustic) |
|
| 3:05 |
| 18. | "Daisies" (Oliver Heldens remix) |
| 3:35 | |
| Total length: | 57:22 | |||
Notes and samples
- ^[a] – main and vocal production
- ^[b] – vocal production
- ^[c] – additional production
- ^[d] – production for the remixed version
- "Never Really Over" contains interpolations from "Love You Like That", written by Dagny Sandvik, Jason Gill, Michelle Buzz.
- "Not the End of the World" contains elements from "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", written by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer.
- "Smile" contains samples from "Jamboree", written by Anthony Criss, Vincent Brown, Kier Gist.
- Vinyl pressings of the album feature an alternative version of "Smile" featuring Diddy, with additional writers Sean Combs and Cordae Dunston.[75]
Personnel
Adapted from the album liner notes.[76]
Performance
- Katy Perry – vocals (all tracks), background vocals (2)
- Leah Haywood – background vocals (1)
- Hayley Warner – background vocals (1)
- Gino Barletta – background vocals (1)
- Sasha Sloan – background vocals (2)
- Noonie Bao – background vocals (2)
- Andrew Goldstein – background vocals (3)
- Jacob Kasher Hindlin – background vocals (3)
- Michael Pollack – background vocals (3, 6)
- Madison Love – background vocals (3, 6)
- Jon Bellion – background vocals (4)
- Kamaria Anita Ousley – background vocals (7)
- Charlie Puth – background vocals (10, 15)
- Johan Carlsson – background vocals (10)
- Sophie Frances Cooke – background vocals (11)
- Ilya Salmanzadeh – background vocals (14)
- Savan Kotecha – background vocals (14)
- Sachi DiSerafino – gang vocals (11)
- Lila Drew – gang vocals (11)
- Karissa Reynafarje – gang vocals (11)
- John DeBold – gang vocals (11)
- Elvira Anderfjärd – background vocals (12)
Musicians
- Oscar Holter – drums, bass, keyboards (2)
- Rickard Göransson – guitars (2)
- Andrew Goldstein – guitars, drums, bass, percussion (3); keyboards (3, 6)
- Oscar Görres – drums, bass, percussion (3); keyboards (3, 6)
- Michael Pollack – synthesizers (3), guitars (4), piano (6)
- Pierre Luc Rioux – guitars (4, 17)
- Mikkel S. Eriksen – all instruments (5)
- Tor Hermansen – all instruments (5)
- Lincoln Adler – saxophone (7)
- Dave Richards – trumpet (7)
- David Bukovinszky – cello (8, 16)
- Johan Carlsson – keyboards (8, 9), strings arrangement (8), guitars (10, 15), Fender Rhodes (10), acoustic guitar, shaker, electric guitar (12); synthesizers (12, 15), talking, drum programming (15); piano (16)
- Mattias Bylund – string synthesizer (8), horns arrangement, synthesizer horns (9); strings, strings arrangement (16)
- Nils–Petter Ankarblom – string synthesizer, strings arrangement (8); horns arrangement (9)
- Mattias Johansson – violin (8, 16)
- Tomas Jonsson – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone (9)
- Peter Noos Johansson – trombone, tuba (9)
- Magnus Johansson – trumpets (9)
- Janne Bjerger – trumpets (9)
- Wojtek Goral – alto saxophone (9)
- Charlie Puth – synthesizers (10, 15)
- Brad Oberhofer – Rhodes, organ, piano (11)
- John DeBold – guitar, synthesizers, arrangement, vocal chops (11)
- Elvira Anderfjärd – electric guitar, organ, bass, drums, (12)
- John Ryan – electric guitar (12)
- Ilya – arrangement, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion (14)
- Ferras – keyboards (14)
Technical
- Dave Kutch – mastering
- Oliver Heldens – mastering (18)
- Zedd – mixing (1)
- Serban Ghenea – mixing (2–6, 8–12, 14, 16, 17)
- Manny Marroquin – mixing (7)
- Phil Tan – mixing (15)
- Ryan Shanahan – engineering, additional mixing (1)
- Brian Cruz – assistant engineering (1)
- Sam Holland – engineering (2, 8–10, 12, 14–16)
- Cory Bice – engineering (2, 8–10, 12, 14, 16)
- Jeremy Lertola – engineering (2, 8–10, 12, 14, 16), assistant recording engineering (15)
- John Hanes – mix engineering (2–6, 8–12, 14, 16, 17)
- Rachael Findlen – engineering (3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 17)
- Andrew Goldstein – vocals recording (3, 6)
- The Monsters & Strangerz – vocals recording (4)
- Mikkel S. Eriksen – engineering (5)
- Thomas Warren – engineering (5)
- Louie Gomez – engineering (7)
- Blake Harden – engineering (7)
- CJ Mixed It – engineering (7)
- Darth "Denver" Moon – engineering (7)
- Chris Galland – mix engineering (7)
- Robin Florent – assistant engineering (7)
- Scott Desmarais – assistant engineering (7)
- Mattias Bylund – strings recording and editing (8), horns recording and editing (9)
- John DeBold – engineering (11)
- Bill Zimmerman – engineering (15)
- Peter Karlsson – vocal editing (15)
- Zedd – programming (1)
- Daniel James – programming (1)
- Leah Haywood – programming (1)
- Oscar Holter – programming (2)
- Andre Goldstein programming (3, 6)
- Oscar Görres – programming (3, 6)
- Mikkel S. Eriksen – programming (5)
- Tor Hermansen – programming (5)
- Johan Carlsson – programming (8-10, 12, 16), drum programming (15)
- Charlie Puth – programming (10), drum programming (15)
- John DeBold – drum programming, synthesizer programming, string programming (11)
- Elvira Anderfjärd – programming (12)
- Ilya – programming (14)
- Rami – programming (16)
Artwork
- Nicole Frantz – art direction
- Christine Hahn – photography
- Nick Steinhardt – design
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Argentine Albums (CAPIF)[77] | 6 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[78] | 2 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[79] | 8 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[80] | 7 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[81] | 5 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[82] | 5 |
| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[83] | 35 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[84] | 13 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[85] | 18 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[86] | 17 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[87] | 14 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[88] | 23 |
| Irish Albums (OCC)[89] | 9 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[90] | 10 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[91] | 32 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[92] | 39 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[93] | 4 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[94] | 25 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV)[95] | 24 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[96] | 3 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[97] | 3 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[98] | 5 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[99] | 58 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[100] | 8 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[101] | 5 |
| Uruguayan Albums (CUD)[102] | 10 |
| US Billboard 200[103] | 5 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2020) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard)[104] | 86 |
Certifications and sales
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[105] | Gold | 10,000* |
| United States | — | 67,000[60] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Version | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | August 28, 2020 | Standard | Capitol | [106] | |
| CD | Fan edition | [21] | |||
| Japan | Japanese edition | Universal Music Japan | [107][108] | ||
| United States |
| Target edition | Capitol | [109][71] |
