Playlist

Katy Perry. [Photo/VCG]

MUSIC

Perry's Witness

It doesn't exactly drop through the net with the grace of a Steph Curry three-pointer: "Swish, swish, bish, another one in the basket/Can't touch this, another one in the casket." That taunting chorus from Swish Swish, the Nicki Minaj-featuring, Taylor Swift-dissing single on Katy Perry's ungainly new album is an "I'm-awesome-and-you're-not" song that lands with a thud. "Your game is tired, you should retire/You're about as cute as an old coupon expired." Such a burn!

Witness means to be soul-searching, self-enlightening, and socially conscious while transporting Perry into funkier territory. Witness is still sure to be an enormous success, but on tracks like Save as Draft, which takes great pains to comment on how we communicate in the digital age, fun is absent. The exception that proves the rule is the genuinely grooving Pendulum, which features producer Jeff Bhasker and super-bassist Pino Palladino.