Katy Perry’s seventh album, 143, wants to be a comeback. It runs about 33 minutes across 11 tracks and aims for big, glossy pop hooks. Instead it lands as her weakest record yet, a set that sounds like it was built by committee and finished in a hurry.
Woman’s World Opens Weak
The album opens with “Woman’s World,” a track meant to be an anthem but that plays flat and dated. “Gimme Gimme” follows with more energy but little payoff. “Gorgeous” and “I’m His, He’s Mine” try for romance and camp in turn; the second at least has a pulse, even if the writing is thin.
The Middle Stretch
The middle of the album is where 143 goes quiet in the worst way. “Crush,” “Lifetimes,” and “All the Love” run together, three songs that could trade places in any order without anyone noticing the difference. “Nirvana” and “Artificial” fare no better, both leaning on production tricks instead of songs. The first half of the record builds toward nothing, and the second half does not rescue it. Listeners who come for a strong run of tracks will leave with almost nothing to hold onto.
Here’s the running order, for the record:
| Track |
|---|
| Woman’s World |
| Gimme Gimme |
| Gorgeous |
| I’m His, He’s Mine |
| Crush |
| Lifetimes |
| All the Love |
| Nirvana |
| Artificial |
| Truth |
| Wonder |
Closing With Wonder
“Truth” is a small step up, more direct than what came before it. “Wonder” closes the record and is the one moment where Perry sounds like she means it. It’s not enough to save the album, but it’s the clearest sign of what 143 could have been. The song has a real hook and a sense of purpose that the rest of the record lacks. It stands apart from the machine-made feel of the other tracks and gives the listener a reason to stay until the end.
If there’s a case for this record, it’s short. Here are the four tracks worth hearing, in order of how much they earn it:
- Wonder
- Gimme Gimme
- I’m His, He’s Mine
- Woman’s World
Everything else on 143 is filler.
The Critics’ Take
The songs aren’t just weak, they’re easy to forget in a way that feels almost deliberate. Reviewers panned 143 as a career-low, dated pop album that lacked the fun and originality of Perry’s earlier work. Several critics noted its songs felt AI-generated or lifeless. The criticism was broad and consistent, with outlets like AllMusic, NME, and the LA Times all landing on the same basic point: the record fails on its own terms.
That’s the real charge against 143. Perry has made bad decisions before, but she’s rarely been dull. This album trades personality for polish and ends up with neither. It is a record that cannot decide what it wants to be, so it tries a little of everything and commits to none of it.
Where the Album Fails
The production throughout leans hard on a smooth, machine-made quality that makes several tracks hard to tell apart from each other. Critics have noted the songs feel built by machine, and it’s hard to argue otherwise once you sit with the album twice. There’s no single bad idea driving 143 into the ground. It’s an accumulation of small ones, none of them corrected, all of them piled on top of each other.
Metacritic has it at 34 out of 100. That number tracks with what’s on the record: a small handful of good songs surrounded by tracks that don’t do much of anything. The score is not a surprise to anyone who has heard the album. It reflects a work that misses more than it hits and never finds a steady footing.
143 isn’t a disaster in the way a truly bad album can be memorable. It’s worse than that.
It’s an album that disappears as it plays, and this is a career low.
- WOMAN’S WORLD2:43
- GIMME GIMME2:57
- GORGEOUS3:17
- I’M HIS, HE’S MINE3:18
- CRUSH2:57
- LIFETIMES3:12
- ALL THE LOVE3:15
- NIRVANA2:51
- ARTIFICIAL2:43
- TRUTH2:57
- WONDER3:24
