Katy+perry

Katy Perry achieved maturation with Prism, the 2013 album anchored on the self-empowerment anthem "Roar" and the club smash "Dark Horse." Considering how "Roar" scored the closing stages of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, it would've seemed like a logical move for Perry to build upon its adult alternative affirmation but she's instead chosen to use "Dark Horse" as a blueprint for Witness, the long-awaited 2017 successor to Prism. Perhaps Perry shifted her approach after "Rise," the "Roar"-alike written for the 2016 Olympics that she also performed at that year's Democratic National Convention, failed to crack the Top Ten, perhaps she always planned to construct this album with electronic beats and synths, but Witness is so slick with synths it seems slippery.

As an album title, Smile carries an air of determined pleasantry, and Katy Perry could use her share of good spirits in 2020. Witness, Smile's predecessor, found Perry pushing her artistic limits, an exercise that didn't find an audience, so she's chosen to retreat to safe territory for Smile. Mostly, this results in Perry devoting herself to dance-pop that's coolly glassy on the surface and vaguely positive underneath. It's dance music that's not intended for the club; rather, it's a soundtrack for everyday events, from work to exercise to relaxation. It's also music that tacitly acknowledges that Katy Perry is beginning her slow transition away from pop culture's center stage.

John Mayer's 2013 album, the Americana-tinged Paradise Valley, is an introspective if somewhat more upbeat affair than his similarly country-inflected 2012 release, Born and Raised. With that album, Mayer was coming off a rough career patch that found him issuing a mea culpa for an infamously loose-lipped 2010 Rolling Stone interview. Making matters worse, in 2011 the singer/songwriter announced he would be going on extended hiatus from performing while he received treatment for granulomas found near his vocal cords. Subsequently, with Born and Raised, Mayer moved away from the commercial pop of 2010's Battle Studies and toward an intimate, largely acoustic, '70s Laurel Canyon-inspired sound with songs that featured plenty of apologetic soul-searching.

Following years of buildup and a whopping eight singles, Ava Max finally delivered her first official studio full-length, Heaven & Hell. Well worth the extended promotion, the album is a masterful pop debut, one of those might-as-well-be-a greatest-hits collections like Lady Gaga's The Fame, Dua Lipa's self-titled LP, or Katy Perry's One of the Boys. Indeed, Max is a kindred spirit with those hitmakers, both in vocal delivery and her knack for picking out an effective earworm, of which there is an embarrassing abundance on Heaven & Hell. Thematically divided into those two titular sides, the album takes that well-worn dichotomy and splits the track list between energetic bops and moodier – but no less catchy – doses of dark pop, all bound together by primary producer Cirkut (Marina, Katy Perry, Kim Petras).

Following years of buildup and a whopping eight singles, Ava Max finally delivered her first official studio full-length, Heaven & Hell. Well worth the extended promotion, the album is a masterful pop debut, one of those might-as-well-be-a greatest-hits collections like Lady Gaga's The Fame, Dua Lipa's self-titled LP, or Katy Perry's One of the Boys. Indeed, Max is a kindred spirit with those hitmakers, both in vocal delivery and her knack for picking out an effective earworm, of which there is an embarrassing abundance on Heaven & Hell. Thematically divided into those two titular sides, the album takes that well-worn dichotomy and splits the track list between energetic bops and moodier – but no less catchy – doses of dark pop, all bound together by primary producer Cirkut (Marina, Katy Perry, Kim Petras).

The second long-player from Christina Perri, the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter responsible for penning the surprise 2010 hit "Jar of Hearts," Head or Heart picks right up where 2011's rushed yet brimming-with-potential Lovestrong left off. More confident than her debut, yet retaining much of its vulnerability, Perri, along with a quartet of producers who include Martin Johnson, Jake Gosling, John Hill, and Butch Walker, explores familiar singer/songwriter themes with a keen pop ear, wrapping big, radio-ready choruses inside folksy verses, effectively bridging the gap between the laid-back folk-pop of a Jewel or Norah Jones and the slick, American Idol montage-ready showboating of a Katy Perry or Sara Bareilles.

Veil Of Obscurity was created by Michael Raitzin and Michelle Raitzin, in collaboration with some members of the Danish/Swedish rock band Royal Hunt and engineer/producer Bill Malina (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Santana among many others). The unique melodic power pop/rock sound of the band is a result of a mix of a variety of musical flavors where some of the most talented musicians were brought to the table during the recording of the songs. "Discover the amazing new music of Veil Of Obscurity. We are a pop-rock band that sings about what matters, offering pure entertainment with meaningful lyrics. You'll hear songs covering a range of topics, from love and lust to despair and gambling. Nothing out there sounds quite like Veil Of Obscurity! Our unique sound is a hybrid between pop and rock, blending current sounds and melodies with a solid classic rock background. All our songs are powered by the voice of rising soul-pop artist Michelle Raitzin, who is known as a member of Team Blake Shelton on NBC's hit show The Voice."

Eight years after their last studio release (2002's underperforming Da Capo), Swedish pop quartet Ace of Base return, minus original members Malin and Jenny Berggren, but with two new sound-alike vocalists in tow, Julia Williamson and Idol 2009 semifinalist Clara Hagman, for their fifth LP, The Golden Ratio. They may be synonymous with the dominant Europop scene of the mid-'90s, but with Lady Gaga pilfering their sound for recent single "Alejandro" and Katy Perry acknowledging them as a major inspiration for her Teenage Dream album, they couldn't have timed their long-awaited comeback much better.

Slipstream is the sixteenth studio album by Bonnie Raitt, released in April 2012. American Songwriter Magazine praised it as "her best album in years and one of the best of her 40-year career." Two singles were released from the album, "Right Down the Line" and "Used to Rule the World", both of which charted on the Billboard Triple A chart. As of August 2012, it has sold 229,000 copies in the US. Slipstream was the best-selling Blues album of 2012 and Bonnie Raitt was the best-selling Blues artist of 2012. The album also spawned a highly successful concert tour. The Slipstream Tour was the 82nd best-selling American tour of 2012 earning 11.3 million dollars and selling 201,313 tickets. Slipstream was the 106th best-selling album and 9th best-selling independent album in the United States in 2012.