It really is a woman’s world — specifically a woman named Katy Perry’s world, in the new video for “Woman’s World.” And in that woman’s world, women — including Trisha Paytas in a quick cameo — can wear bikini tops and do construction work, not to mention drink whiskey, use urinals, drive monster trucks, and walk straight through glass. Gloria Steinem wishes! Perry dropped her much-anticipated comeback single and visual today, leading off her first album in four years, 143. It comes after a rollout that was lengthy in more than one way, with Perry first announcing the song on June 17 and later revealing the lyrics on a 500-foot dress at Paris Fashion Week. It also comes with a fair bit of controversy, after fans discovered that alleged abuser Dr. Luke co-produced the track. (Perry last worked with Luke on 2013’s Prism, before Kesha accused him of sexual assault, but never disavowed him — in 2018, her lawyers said Kesha was making “outrageous lies” about Luke.) Uh, are we lucky to be living in this woman’s world?
Regardless, we’ll be getting more of it when Perry releases 143 on September 20. It’s her sixth album, following her 2020 release Smile, and it’s also her first release since she left the American Idol judges’ table to “go out and find that pulse to my own beat.” Sounds like she found it on 143, which a press release describes as “an album with a lot of heart – and a lot of BPM.”