BURBANK, Calif. — Prism's radiant and uplifting direction wasn't Katy Perry's first cosplay costumes for sale impulse while rebounding from a painful and public divorce. She started at the darker end of the pop spectrum.
"There were good songs that I left off, like Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Reborn," she says. "It's gritty and angry and has a dark side, and it didn't fit how I feel now. Sometimes you have to write those songs to get them out of the way."
Prism, out Tuesday, finds her crushed, exposed, defiant and hopeful, fortified by newfound wisdom and self-awareness.
"I'm very excited to unleash it to the world," says Perry, who turns 29 on Friday. "I don't think it's cheesy, the idea that light always wins over the darkness. People may say I'm not as cool as blah-blah-blah. I'm not afraid of that."
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On break between rehearsals at a CenterStaging studio, Perry is picking at a salad. The new Cover Girl spokesmodel wears no makeup, her face framed by a floral headband covering black hair pulled into a ponytail. She manages to look stunning in an unglam beige hoodie and black leggings.
Inspired in part by best seller The Power of Now, Perry had a sunnier attitude by the time Prism sessions intensified in March. In Santa Barbara, she worked with producer Dr. Luke, studio whiz Cirkut and songwriter Bonnie McKee, then spent weeks in Stockholm to record with Max Martin, Bloodshy and Teddybears' Klas Ahlund.
"March through June is when I got my best songs," she says. "I had a lot of life-changing, life-turning, life-focusing events happen from the end of winter through spring."
A trip to Africa and a temporary split from boyfriend John Mayer led her to "a lot of soul-searching and reprogramming of my life," Perry says. "There was a pause button on my relationship. It was a splash of cold water on my face. It allowed me to look inside myself and ask, 'How can I make myself better and live more consciously?' I've always been a huge believer in therapy, and that really helped me.
"When you have loss in your life, you can go down a spiral and turn to alcohol or substances. I've never been down that road too hard. I went the opposite way. I went into a self-reflective, meditative, learning-of-lessons period. In astrology, it's called the return of Saturn. It happens when you're young, a quarter-life crisis. Either you welcome those lessons or you reject them and they come back as your midlife crisis."
Geometry meets music on the title of Katy Perry's new album 'Prism,' out Tuesday. Here are a cosplay costumes store few of our other favorite shapes set to song. Christopher Polk, Getty Images for Clear Channel
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