Roulette

Development

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. As analyzed by Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club, hooks are in short supply, replaced by grooves and atmosphere that pick and choose elements from 1990s house music, mainstream EDM, electro-tinged hip-hop, and 1980s new wave.

Witness opens with the title track, an electronic song backed by a 1990s house piano. "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. "Roulette" is an EDM song described as "explosive" by Christopher R. Weingarten from Rolling Stone. "Swish Swish" runs throughout a house-influenced beat and contains a sample from "Star 69" by Fatboy Slim which itself samples "I Get Deep" by Roland Clark. "Déjà Vu" is "an electro-R&B ballad about wanting to free oneself from a dead-end relationship." "Power" 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.

Billboard's 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

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 and number 14 in Canada. "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 number 13 in Canada. "Save as Draft" was released to American radio stations on June 26, 2017, 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".

Hannah J. Davies of The Guardian gave the album a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, writing that the singer "still has a flair for tunes that quickly seep into the collective consciousness" and praised "Swish Swish" as "a house-fuelled banger with undeniable groove," though felt that "Perry's heartfelt ballads feel tacked on in the face of all this weirdness." Leonie Cooper from NME gave it the same rating and complimented the same track, arguing that while the album lacked subtlety, this is justified when "[delivering] important messages about female autonomy to a young audience". USA Today's Maeve McDermott commended the album for being "sonically coherent" and noted it as a personal record, rather than the politically charged one that the marketing campaign for it had suggested.

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. Wren Graves from Consequence of Sound gave the album a rating of C. He listed "Swish Swish", "Power", and "Déjà Vu" as essential tracks, but felt that most of the other songs were more of a "filler," and that a lack of cohesiveness with Perry's output made Witness inferior to her previous material.

Giving Witness 3 out of 5 stars, Christopher R. Weingarten wrote in Rolling Stone that it was comparable to the music of Halsey and Camila Cabello, and that the songs blended "into the rest of the radio." He also did not like how Perry's voice was "devoured in effects and reverb." Sal Cinquemani gave the same score, praising the empowerment themes within "Hey Hey Hey" and "Power", though ultimately felt that the record "lacks both the big hooks that propelled Perry's past hits up the charts and the conceptual and sonic focus to give her pop real purpose."

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 2 out of 5 stars, saying it felt "relentless and a shade desperate" and called the record "a conceptual muddle." He added that Witness "erodes whatever adult contemporary progress Perry made with Prism." The Daily Telegraph journalist Neil McCormick gave Witness the same rating, and panned the usage of the term "purposeful pop" for the songs. He found Witness to be musically repetitive, explaining that within the multitude of people working on the record, Perry's "individual talent" was lost making "Witness [sound like] someone trying to cover too many bases."

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 pure 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. The album has sold 311,000 pure copies in the US as of August 2020 according to Nielsen Music. Witness also became Perry's third album after Teenage Dream and Prism to open at number one on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart, selling 23,000 units in its first week. The album subsequently descended to number four the following week. In September 2024, the record was certified two-times Platinum by Music Canada for sales exceeding 160,000 album units.

Witness debuted at number one on the Spanish Albums Chart, becoming Perry's first chart-topping album in Spain. It fell to number 13 in its second week and spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart. In Australia, Witness debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart, selling 5,794 copies. It descended to number six the following week after selling 2,069 copies. The album was later certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shifting 35,000 units in the country. In the United Kingdom, Witness debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, where it became Perry's third top 10 album, following Teenage Dream and Prism. According to the Official Charts, it opened with 16,153 units in the nation. The album sold 106,206 copies in the UK and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Elsewhere, Witness reached the top five in Belgium (Wallonia), the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and Slovakia. The album has been certified three-times Platinum in India, and Platinum in Mexico, Norway, and Poland.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that Witness was the 15th best-selling album globally in 2017. The album sold 1.25 million pure copies worldwide and garnered over 6.5 billion cumulative streams from various digital platforms.

Track listing

Notes

^[a] – main and vocal producer

^[b] – main and additional vocal producer

^[c] – additional producer

^[d] – vocal producer

^[e] – additional vocal producer

Japan limited deluxe edition includes a DVD which features the music video and making of the music video of "Chained to the Rhythm".

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.