Katy Perry finds light at the end of the tunnel in her latest single ‘Daisies’. It’s a true return to form for the singer as she leans into her deep, powerful voice without deploying any electronic arrangements.

The singer announced her pregnancy in her last video ‘Never Worn White’, and is shown to be exploring this phenomenon in a deeper context in the accompanying video for this single. Pairing the symbolism of the garden to that of femininity is a classic artistic choice, but seeing how Katy is seeing fully embracing her baby bump in the aesthetics — it is a deeply intimate visual that lends a whole lot more meaning to the theme. 

In terms of the instrumentation, it is kept simple but engaging. Katy Perry’s voice has always been her greatest strength, so letting it shine as it soars through the high notes and holds steady between the low ones is the right choice. Most of the composition is buoyed by sharp, crisp piano chords that direct our attention to Katy’s voice, but the chorus just amps it up with stronger, more upbeat strums on the acoustic guitar. The interesting thing about the structure of the melody is that the pre-chorus verse leaves room for repetition in a higher pitch, which Katy’s voice is able to handle in strides. The chorus itself is just appropriately dramatic, whereas the bridge just blows up the instrumentation even further while letting Katy’s soft, feather-light voice echo in the background. The song’s themes deal with finding hope and happiness in the face of adversity and calamity, something a lot of us would able to relate to at such a time. 

The song is set to be featured in Katy Perry’s latest album and is said to be the first single of the as-yet-untitled album. When asked what inspired her to write and produce this tune, Katy said, “I wrote some of it while I was clinically depressed and trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. And here's a nugget of inspiration, how you're going to do it.' And it becomes a song and 'Daisies' was just a nugget of inspiration for me to go, look, I don't need to change. I will stay true to my past,”

 pop    singer-songwriter 

Author: Shaoni Das

Shaoni Das is a writer/editor currently based in Edmonton, Canada. She remains eager to inspect how the changing culture of music impacts upon the greater world.