Witness (Katy Perry album)

Following the release of her fourth album Prism in 2013 and the end of the Prismatic World Tour in October 2015, Katy Perry told The New York Times in February 2016 that she was in the "research and development phase" of a new album. She decided to take a hiatus after the tour concluded to "give my mental health a break" before starting to write new songs the following June. Perry felt "refreshed" after the hiatus, and had over 40 tracks "in progress" before the year ended, changing her hair color to blonde short hair from her long black hair in the past. In August, the singer stated that she aspired to make material "that connects and relates and inspires" and told Ryan Seacrest that she was "not rushing" her fifth album, adding: "I'm just having a lot of fun, but experimenting and trying different producers, and different collaborators, and different styles." The album marked a departure from long time producer and co-writer Dr. Luke. In February 2017, Perry stated that the album was "definitely a new era for me" and "an era of purposeful pop" she was proud of. Later that month, she told Capital FM that "I've got something swirling, but I think I want to put out some songs first before I give them the full meal." The following May, Perry revealed to Entertainment Weekly that the album would include 15 of the 40 songs she wrote for it, and described the record as "fun and dance-y and dark and light." The album was partially inspired by Hillary Clinton's loss in the 2016 United States presidential election. Perry, a vocal supporter of Clinton, claimed "I was definitely not okay [after the election]. I couldn't write a happy-go-lucky song. I wasn't in that place but I also don't want to preach to people because I'm not that person either. I want to empower people and lift people up." Perry had previously performed at Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign in Philadelphia. ==Composition==

Witness is an electropop album, containing influences of dance and EDM. "Hey Hey Hey" asserts that women can be complex people with a multitude of personality traits, as noted by Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club, "Hey Hey Hey" depicts a narrow version of femininity and success and it perpetuates irksome stereotypes about strong women. "Déjà Vu" is "an electro-R&B ballad about wanting to free oneself from a dead-end relationship." composition, which explores a theme of self empowerment, Jillian Males from Pitchfork noted that the song "approximates feminism by politicizing a personal struggle for control." ==Artwork==

Commenting on the concept of the album cover, Perry said, "Music has allowed me to travel, which has reeducated my mind and changed my perspective on so much, so my education and my consciousness comes from my voice, and that's how I see, and that's how I witness you and that's how you witness me and that's why the eye is in the mouth." On September 29, 2017, Urban Outfitters released a limited-edition exclusive vinyl of the album with alternate cover art. Billboards Tatiana Cirisano listed the album cover as one of the worst of 2017, characterizing its "freaky alien theme" as "just a tad too horrifying". ==Promotion==

at Madison Square Garden In February 2017, Spotify announced that it would run a campaign to promote the album up to its release in the middle of the year. On May 15, Perry confirmed the album would be titled Witness and would be released through Capitol Records on June 9, 2017. She also announced that the concert tour supporting the album would be titled Witness: The Tour. It began in September 2017 and concluded in August 2018. Tickets purchased would include a copy of the album. The night before Witness came out, she hosted a live countdown for the record on her YouTube channel, which featured the singer performing and discussing tracks on the record as well as responding to fan questions. To accompany the album's release, Perry also broadcast herself on YouTube with a live-stream titled Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide for four days, concluding with a live concert on June 12. Singles The album's lead single, "Chained to the Rhythm" featuring Skip Marley, was released on February 10, 2017. It went on to top the charts in Hungary while reaching number four in the United States. "Bon Appétit" with Migos followed as the second single on April 28, 2017. The track reached number 59 in the United States "Swish Swish", featuring Nicki Minaj, was released as the third single on May 19, 2017. The song peaked at number 46 in the United States, and "Hey Hey Hey" was released in Italy as the album's fifth single on January 12, 2018. ==Critical reception==

Witness was met with mixed reception from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 53, based on 20 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Idolator's Mike Wass gave Witness a score of 4 out of 5. He did not feel it had "introspection or maturity," though praised "Miss You More" as "the kind of brutally honest anthem that Katy isn't given enough credit for," and dubbed it "the album's emotional core." Wass concluded that "Witness might be overly ambitious and is definitely a couple of songs too long, but dance-pop experiments don't come much more enjoyable than this." Kevin O'Donnell of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B rating stating, "Perry is reflective, anxious, and fired up on Witness," highlighting "Déjà Vu" and "Swish Swish" as the best tracks. Writing for The Independent, Andy Gill also rated the record 2 out of 5 stars. He criticized the production of the tracks, especially the ones by Max Martin, describing them as "identical to everyone else's." Mikael Wood from the Los Angeles Times shared a similar view in his analysis of the album. Wood was critical of the musical direction on Witness, the supposed "purposeful pop" being lost in the tracks and Perry's singing. He listed "Chained to the Rhythm" and "Swish Swish" as highlights. According to Jordan Sargent from Spin, the record "feels like it's making a bid for a level of artistic seriousness—a recognition of aesthetic vision—that Perry has never really been afforded." He felt that it indicated her "artillery of undeniable pop songs" had been "all but depleted." Variety writer Chris Willman did not feel album was "the kind of obvious smash to which all of America would plainly say: Baby, you're a firework," but asserted it "counts at least as a sparkler — the kind you hold in your hand for 45 seconds in the summer, if not the enduring." Accolades ==Commercial performance==

In the United States, Witness debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 180,000 album-equivalent units, which included 162,000 pure album sales. It became Perry's third album to top the country's chart after Teenage Dream (2010) and Prism (2013) both debuted at number one. The record had the highest opening in the US for a female since Lady Gaga's Joanne in 2016 and became the second album by a female artist from 2017, after Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, to open atop the chart. Witness dropped to number 13 on the Billboard 200 the following week, earning 28,000 album-equivalent units and selling 18,000 copies. According to Billboard, it was the country's eighth-highest performing album of the 2017 summer season, earning 431,000 album-equivalent units in the nation by September 2017. It has sold 311,000 copies there as of August 2020. Witness also became Perry's third album after Teenage Dream and Prism to open at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 23,000 units in its first week. The record subsequently descended to number four one week later. That November, it received a Platinum certification from Music Canada (MC). and fell to number 13 in its second week. In New Zealand, Witness entered the albums chart at number two. Selling another 2,069 the following week, it reached a total of 7,863 copies sold within the nation. The record has since been certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). and moved up to number 19 the next week. According to the Official Charts Company, it opened with 16,153 album-equivalent units in the nation. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Witness was the 15th best-selling album in 2017. ==Track listing==

{{Track listing {{Track listing {{Track listing Notes • – main and vocal producer • – main and additional vocal producer • – additional producer • – vocal producer • – additional vocal producer Sample credits • "Swish Swish" contains excerpts from "I Get Deep" written by Roland Clark. • "Power" contains a sample of "Being with You" written and performed by Smokey Robinson. ==Personnel==

Adapted from the album liner notes. • Nelson Beato – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Jeff Bhasker – producer, keyboards and drums programming (track 14) • Cory Bice – assistant engineer (tracks 1, 2, 3, 9, 11); engineer (track 17) • Edie Lehmann Boddicker – vocal contracting, gospel choir conducting, gospel studio choir (track 14) • Alexandra Brown – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Denise Carite – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Charlean Carmon – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Carmen Carter – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Tom Coyne – mastering (track 9) • Mark Crew – production, keyboards, programming (track 17) • Aubry Delaine – additional engineering, Nicki Minaj vocal recording (track 4) • Francesco Donadello – engineer (track 15) • Monique Donnelly – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Duke Dumont – producer, synths, drums, programming (track 4) • Carmel Echols – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Luke Edgemon – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Anthony Evans – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Rationale – electric guitar, bass, programming (track 17) • Iain Findlay – vocal assistant engineering (Nicki Minaj's vocals, track 4) • Rachael Findlen – engineer (tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14–17); vocal production (tracks: 7, 8) • Nicole Franz – art direction • Sia – background vocals (track 9) • Jack Garratt – production, all instruments (track 6) • James Alan Ghaleb – guitar (track 9) • Serban Ghenea – mixing • Jim Gilstrap – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Lauren Gluckman – A&R • John Hanes – mixing engineer • Sam Holland – engineer (track 1, 3, 9, 11, 17) • Oscar Holter – keys (track 11, 12); production, vocal production, programming (track 12) • Casey Hooper – guitars (track 10) • Stephen Hybicki – engineer (track 10) • Illangelo – additional production, additional drum programming (track 14) • Ilya – production, programming, arranging, drums, percussion, guitars, bass, keys (track 17) • Clydene Jackson – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Hayden James – production; guitar, bass, background vocals, synths (track 5) • Peter Karlsson – vocal editing (tracks 1, 2, 3, 9, 11, 14); additional vocal production (track 8); percussion (track 9) • Briana Lee – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Jeremy Lertola – assistant engineer (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 9, 11); engineer (track 17) • David Loucks – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Elof Loelv – production, engineer, programming, drums, bass, piano, synthesizers (track 14) • Ted Lovett – layout • Skip Marley – featured vocals, background vocals (track 9) • Max Martin – background vocals, programming, Prophet 6, solina (track 9), percussion; acoustic guitar (track 8); vocal production (tracks: 8, 13), executive producer • Migos – featured vocals (track 11) • Jamie McCrary – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Randy Merrill – mastering • Zeke Mishanec – assistant engineer (track 4) • Ryan Nasci – engineer (track 14) • Dustin O'Halloran – producer, all instruments, arrangement (track 15) • Pino Palldino – bass (track 14) • Noah Passovoy – additional keys, programming (track 4, 10); engineer (tracks 4, 6, 10, 14, 16, 17), vocal production (tracks 5, 6, 10, 14, 16, 17); vocal editing (track 7, 12); additional production (tracks 4, 10); percussion (track 10) • Ali Payami – acoustic guitar (track 1); drums, bass, synths, piano (tracks 1, 8, 9); additional vocal production, programming, keys, electric guitar, background vocals, production (track 8); percussion (tracks 8, 9); hand claps (track 9) • Louis Price – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Katy Perry – background vocals (tracks 3, 9), vocals, executive producer • Daryl McPherson – Migos vocal production • Joshua Moreau – bass (track 10) • Corin Roddick – production, vocal production (track 12) • David Rudnick – front and back cover art direction • Scooly – production (track 10) • Aretha Scruggs – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Tony Scruggs – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Shellback – production; background vocals (track 3); keys, programming (track 11) • PJ Sledge – keyboards (track 4) • Felix Snow – production, vocal manipulations, programming, guitar (track 16) • Thomas Stell – synths (track 5) • Carmen Twillie – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Oren Waters – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Will Wheaton – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Mike Will Made It – production (track 10) • Eyvonne Williams – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Brandon Winbush – gospel studio choir (track 14) • Jason Woods – gospel studio choir (track 14) ==Charts==

Weekly charts Monthly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==

{{Certification Table Entry|region=India (IMI)|award=Platinum|number=3|certref= ==Release history==