The pop singer also revealed which albums of her fellow female pop stars are currently obsessed with.
Katy Perry detailed her long road back to happiness and made her upcoming album Laugh in a new profile with the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday (August 12).
In the feature, the pregnant pop star opened up about how she was disappointed with the performance of her 2017 album Witness puts them on the path to a spiraling depression and eventual creative rebirth.
“I think the universe was, ‘OK, okay, let’s have a modest cake here,'” Perry told the paper. “My negative thoughts were not great. They did not want to plan for a future. I also felt like I could control it by saying, ‘I will have the last word when I hurt myself or do something stupid and I will show you “- but really, who did I show?”
According to Sia, who was also interviewed for the story, her friend and fellow pop star had a “real burglary” after the failure of Witness to reach the stratospheric heights of their previous, chart-topping records such as 2010s Teenage Dream and 2013s Prism.
“She’s on stage with 10 candied lollipops and clowns and dancers, selling the dream, the fun, the happiness – and that’s very hard sometimes, if you don’t feel it yourself,” Sia said. ‘I knew she was driven and ambitious, that was clear from the start. But I did not know that she was so dependent on that validation for her psychological well-being. She said, ‘I feel lost.’ I think it was a big kiss for her ego, but it was the best thing that could ever happen to her, really, because now she can make music for the fun of it. Getting numbers is nothing for you inside. “
These days, Perry is also more focused on supporting and uplifting her other female pop stars instead of playing in the often repeated story of competition and cattiness between herself and her peers. In fact, she reads Selena Gomez’s during the interview Rare, Halsey’s Manic, Lady Gaga’s Chromatica and Taylor Swift’s Folklore as a quarter of albums she has currently repeated. (She mentions “My Tears Ricochet” as a personal favorite of the latter.)
As for her own album, which arrives on August 28 via Capitol Records after multiple delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, Perry said she is ready to put pressure on herself to Teenage Dream-era days when they earned five consecutive No.1 singles from the same LP. (“Daisies,” the serious lead single off Laugh, highlight at no. 40 on the Hot 100 after its release in May).
“I’m grateful I’m out of the loop of how intense it is to be 10 years red hot,” she concluded. ‘Because I had all the numbers, dear. Set up those accounts anyway, honey. Talk to me when you’ve done this. Do I have to keep knocking on that clock, or can I start ringing others? ‘
