The California gurl's fourth studio album has been teased for nearly a year, from potential collaborators to possible release dates to that will-she-won't-she Taylor Swift clap back track we may or may not ever receive, so is Perry finally ready to unleash KP4 in 2017?
The answer is yes...eventually. In February, after Grammy and BRIT Awards performances of her new "Chained to the Rhythm" single (perched at No.4 on the Hot 100 as of March 1), Katy told CapitalFM that she's concentrating on the song-trees, and not the album-forest just yet: "I've got something swirling, but, you know, I think I want to put out some songs first before I give them the full meal."
She continued, "I think we are digesting things in bite-size these days and that’s what we can handle. It’s not shade at all anything like that — you’ll know when it’s shade." In short, expect at least another new song to precede an album announcement of any kind.
She's been teasing new tunes on social media.
Perry dropped another teaser on Instagram on March 17, St. Patrick's Day, with a video of her dancing among food emojis to a song purportedly called "Bon Appetit," a tropical-infused dance pop track.
On March 14, the singer teased yet another snippet of new music on Instagram. The clip, a haunting vocal track where she seems to sing, "'Cause every day is the same / Definition of insane / I think we're running on a loop / Deja vu," hearkening to the themes of complacency and brainwashing that were present on "Chained to the Rhythm."
The week of March 1, an impeccably-styled Katy shared two Instagram story clips, one featuring dreamy, Washed Out-reminiscent production as she sings, "Stole my time but I'll make up the hours / 'Cause I'm a goddess and you know it / Some respect you better show it." She shared another 15-second clip that sounds like it's from the same track.
In a February 28 Instagram story, a close-up video of a speaker playing a reverb-heavy clip of the singer injecting a little punk rock into her delivery: Perry sing-chants, "I wont, no, I won't apologize / I will not, will not subscribe / don't ask me, ask me to normalize." This, combined with the soft political sentiments of "Chained to the Rhythm," does suggest KP4 will get political (more on that below).
Katy treated fans to snippets of new songs-in-progress on Instagram back in December, sharing a handful of video clips from the studio as part of a fleeting Instagram story.
In one video, the singer-songwriter posed casually (albeit with Sharpie on her teeth—why though???) as a funky, '80s-hued song played in the background—you can make out her singing something like, "Don't be scared to die..." below—while in another, her vocals materialized amid a cascade of psychedelic synths and spacey beats.
There are some song titles already registered, reportedly.
Tracks with titles like "She's So Creepy," "In Flames," "Heartache Crusade," "Legacy (I'm Threw)" and "Crocodile Tears," while not necessarily confirmed to appear on KP4, are already registered, according to Digital Spy.
She's working on something "unexpected."
In September, the artist told InStyle that she was working with "a lot of unexpected writer and producers," something that was "bringing out a lot of different things, sonically."
"Even when I was working with my go-to producers, I’d always push them to play me a beat that was reserved for Three 6 Mafia something like that," Katy dished. "I know exactly how to write a lyric over that because my strengths are melody and lyrics. I’m putting myself in unexpected situations and that is breeding a lot of new color."
Her new music may be more politically charged.
After campaigning heavily and passionately for former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton throughout 2016, Katy teased that her new music may be more politically charged, writing on Instagram, "Hillary lit a fire inside of me that burns brighter and brighter every day, and that fire will NEVER be put out... It's funny, sometimes people who disagree with me just say, 'Shut up and sing.' Boy, will I do so in a whole new way... next year. Hell hath no fury like a woman REBORN."
She filmed... something in December. A new music video, perhaps?
Back in December, someone on set of a Katy production (whether it was a music video, photo-shoot or something else remains to be seen) shared a behind the scenes snap from set, revealing that the pop star was working on something with Aya Tanimura (the director of the "Roar," "Unconditionally" and "Birthday" lyrics videos) as well as makeup artist Tony Gardner (who worked on both Katy's official "Birthday" music video and her Hillary Clinton costume for Halloween 2016).
That's right: If we're to go on the words of Katy's manager Steven Jensen, who told the All That Matters music panel that the pop star planned "to release her next album by 2016," Katy's fourth album is technically running late. Oops!
...But she teased a possible 2017 release on Twitter.
In October, the hit maker basically confirmed a 2017 album drop when she tweeted, "Ok, back to the studio for me. 2017 is gonna [be] tight AF."
She also hinted at a possible 2017 tour.
When a troll attacked Katy on Twitter, she clapped back with "See you at my show 2K17." Is that a promise, Katy?
She was already "researching" and "developing" the record early last year.
Speaking to the New York Times in February 2016, Katy revealed that she was "in the research and development stage." She also added that her new music won't follow trends (so no trop-pop, we presume?), explaining, "Right now I'm taking a little time. I don't want to jump on any trends. I just need to evolve." Straight from the Dark Horse's mouth.
Katy's reunited with producers Max Martin and Shellback.
In October, Katy revealed on Twitter that she was working with superstar producer Max Martin again, the music man behind her hits "I Kissed A Girl," "Hot N Cold," "Teenage Dream" and "Rise," among many others.
She also mentioned working with Martin's collaborator Shellback who, though she hasn't worked with before, had created smash songs for everyone from Britney Spears ("If You Seek Amy") to Carly Rae Jepsen ("Run Away With Me") to, ironically, Taylor Swift ("Bad Blood").
"Make lyrics great again," indeed.
She recorded a song written by Rae Sremmurd's Swae Lee.
Katy's no stranger to hip hop swagger: She's collaborated with artists like Kanye West ("E.T."), Snoop Dogg ("California Gurls") and even Juicy J ("Dark House") in the past, but it looks like KP4 will see at least one more rapper collaboration. In August, Swae Lee of rap duo Rae Sremmurd told Complex that the pop star recorded a song he wrote for her.
"I wrote this track and [Katy] laid it and it’s pretty dope," he revealed. "She got a lot of style. She about to come with it!"
According to Forbes (and KatyCats everywhere, obviously), KP4 is one of the most anticipated records of 2017—and with good reason.
"One of the most successful pop stars of all time with only three albums under her belt, expectations might be higher for Katy Perry than anyone else in the genre," Forbes reported. "The singer has sent at least one song from every CD to the top of the charts, but usually she manages more than a single leader, and that’s a difficult task to manage."