Her Teenage Dream

SINGER KATY PERRY wooed U.S. critics with her second major-label album release this week, packed with flirty, giggly pop songs, strong dance beats and plenty of “gurl-talk”.

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Published: Thu 26 Aug 2010, 9:06 PM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 12:07 PM

The 25-year-old singer, who was once tagged as a one-hit wonder for the song that launched her to fame — 2008’s I Kissed a Girl — released 12 new songs on Teenage Dream that includes the summer hit single California Gurls.

The album, whose packaging is meant to smell like cotton candy with an image of Perry lying naked on a pink cloud, features lyrics about love, youth and relationships. It is due out in Europe and the rest of the world next week and has been heavily promoted as a fun summer record.

Rolling Stone magazine gave the album three stars out of five, declaring it “miles ahead of Perry’s breakthrough disc, One of the Boys, with her clever songwriting boosted by top-dollar pros” including several top European music producers.

Teenage Dream is full of breezy disco beats that “is the kind of pool-party-pop gem that Gwen Stefani used to crank out on the regular,” the magazine said.

Perry’s affinity with being provocative and cheeky has tough competition from Lady Gaga and nothing on the new album “may match the sheer pop majesty of Madonna’s most memorable hits,” according to USA Today, but “the ambitious brunette serves up percolating confections laced with saucy humor and disarming earnestness.”

Perry, a California-born former singer-songwriter who started out by recording a failed gospel album in Nashville, Tennessee, is engaged to loudmouth British comedian and actor Russell Brand.

Critics noted her new album is similar to her hit debut pop album, which also featured the hit Hot n Cold, and since then she has matched Brand in promoting a similar over-the-top persona and raunchy, fun image.

The video for California Gurls features rapper Snoop Dogg and a scantily clad Perry — who was raised by Christian pastor parents — in lilac and bright blue wigs making her way through a fantasy candy land licking ice creams.

Music magazine Spin said Perry “delivers the gurl-gone-wild stuff with requisite sass” but was more impressive on quieter tunes that recalled her singer-songwriter days.

MAMA PERRY

Perry wants to have children with beau Russell Brand but is currently too focused on her career.

The hitmaker admits she would love to start a family with the British funnyman but work tops her priority list for the moment, reports contactmusic.com.

“I see myself as a professional right now and hopefully when I decide it’s time for children, I’ll be able to devote myself to that,” said Perry.


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