After teasing fans about her comeback single for the past week, Katy Perry has delivered a new track as promised.
The brand new song titled, “Chained to the Rhythm”, sees the singer teaming up with her longtime collaborator Swedish producer Max Martin and Sia (who previously proposed “Elastic Heart” and “Chandelier” to Perry but ended releasing both hits herself).
Although Perry has taken time off the music scene, the 32-year-old singer has been on the road actively campaigning for Hillary Clinton during the Presidential Election (she even stripped naked for Funny or Die’s Everyone Votes campaign) and also released an inspirational Olympics anthem, “Rise”, last year.
Instead of dropping the official music video for “Chained to the Rhythm”, we are treated to a surreal lyric video of people cooking tiny meals in miniature homes. In the visual, a pair of hands are shown preparing tiny, tasty-looking dishes (gourmet hamburger, classic spaghetti, and meatballs) on a miniature stove. Spoiler alert: these micro-meals are then fed to a hamster.
Although it’s super weird to watch this unusual videoclip playing over Perry’s catchy tune, perhaps it’ll make more sense once you consider the lyrics:
“Are we crazy? Living our lives through a lens/ Trapped in our white-picket fence/ Like ornaments/ So comfortable, we live in a bubble/ So comfortable, we cannot see the trouble/ trouble/ Aren’t you lonely/ Up there in utopia/ Where nothing will ever be enough?/ Happily numb.”
For some, “Chained to the Rhythm” may require a few repeats before you warm up to the song. The upbeat pop song, where Perry sings about living selfishly in comfort and complacency, is infused with reggae thanks to the featured artist, Skip Marley.
Enjoy:
It has already been confirmed that Perry will be performing at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Would you like to see her belt out “Chained to the Rhythm”?
UPDATE (22nd February, 12pm):
The “Chained to the Rhythm” music video is finally here and it takes place in a pastel-hued dystopia.
Set in a futuristic theme park call Oblivia, Katy Perry portrays a woman named Rose, who arrives in a Jetsons-style white dress. Although everyone is all smiles, she soon realises that nothing is as wonderful as it seems. Clearly, everyone is disillusioned with the American dream.
We see people running on hamster wheels to the point of exhaustion, but that doesn’t stop them from walking in the same monotonous step and waiting in the long cue to get on the wheel. The message? They are all clueless on the fact that they are all on the same road to nowhere.
Sticking to her new mantra of “purposeful pop”, Perry is being political without critiquing. Watch the colourful visual here:
Sources: ET Online, Entertainment Weekly, E! News, BBC, The Fix.
