Katy Perry looked incredible as she soaked up the sun in St Tropez with fiance Orlando Bloom this week – amid the catastrophic release of her comeback single, Woman’s World.
The Teenage Dream hitmaker, 39, who has defended the single’s sexualized music video as ‘slapstick’, brushed off her chart woes as she displayed her toned body in a gingham bikini for her beach day with Bloom, 47.
The star flashed her midriff and cleavage in the two-piece which she paired with gold jewelry and some chic shades.
Lord of the Rings star Orlando flashed his hunky frame in a tight blue top and shorts as he embraced Katy in the surf during their break with their daughter Daisy, four.
The pair’s holiday comes as Katy’s comeback single has plummeted down the US iTunes chart since its release on Thursday, July 11.
Katy Perry looked incredible as she soaked up the sun in St Tropez with fiance Orlando Bloom this week – amid the catastrophic release of her comeback single, Woman’s World
Lord of the Rings star Orlando embraced Katy in the surf during their break
The pair’s holiday comes as Katy’s comeback single has plummeted down the US iTunes chart since its release on Thursday, July 11
The song has slipped to number 31 on the charts – being beaten by efforts by Eminem and Tom MacDonald.
The singer is currently promoting the lead single from her forthcoming seventh studio album 143, but the track – billed as an empowering feminist anthem – has been dismissed as unoriginal, hypocritical and formulaic.
The American star returned to music with her new track earlier this week, but has faced criticism for the sexualised nature of the video, notably a moment where she and her dancers perform sexy choreography on a construction site before she is “smashed” by an anvil and returns in a new costume.
In a recent behind-the-scenes video shared to Instagram, Perry said: ‘We’re kind of just having fun, being a bit sarcastic with it. It’s very slapstick and very on the nose.
‘With this set it’s like, “Oooh, we’re not about the male gaze, but we really are about the male gaze.” And we’re really overplaying it and on the nose.’
The former American Idol judge explained the anvil moment was meant as a “reset” to help her embrace the “idea of feminine divine”.
She added: ‘We wanted to open this video making it look like a super high-gloss pop star video.’
Woman’s World is the first single from Perry’s upcoming album 143, which will be released on 20 September.
The longtime couple enjoyed some downtime amid their hectic schedules
Katy showed off her enviable frame in a skimpy bikini on the day
Orlando flashed his hunky frame in a tight blue top and shorts
Katy showed off her enviable bikini body as she strolled on the beach
The couple were seen packing on the PDA in the sea
The mother of one looked radiant as she soaked up the sun
Katy sipped on a refreshing drink during the day
Orlando showed off his hunky frame as he took in the scenic views
Orlando leaned in for a kiss with his fiancee on the day
The title is a code for I love you which was often used in messages sent on pagers during the 1990s.
It will mark the star’s first album since 2020’s Smile, which did not replicate the success of her previous records.
Shortly after its release on Friday, Woman’s World was panned by the critics as a ‘monumental catastrophe’ that sounds like a ‘reheated’ Lady Gaga.
It received a particularly harsh review from Pitchfork, which suggested it sounded like Perry had learned about feminism from a basic Google search.
‘Defying all sense of taste, the pop singer’s comeback single is too dispiriting to even approach camp. It’s abysmal,’ wrote the outlet’s Shaad D’Souza.
Perry faced criticism for allegedly modeling her song after Lady Gaga’s 2020 hit Stupid Love, resulting in what some called a lackluster imitation.
Katy looked sensational as she paraded up the beach
The star was seen stepping onto a boat during the day
Katy was seen embracing her partner in the sea
The couple looked smitten as they relaxed in France
Orlando gave Katy the look of love during their day out
Katy showed off her enviable frame during the day
The star appeared to go make-up free for the day
Katy showed off her toned curves during the beach day
Katy looked typically stunning for her day at the beach
The star later donned an ab-flashing co-ord for the day
Additionally, she was heavily criticized for collaborating on Woman’s World with Dr. Luke, the music producer accused of sexual assault by Kesha in a lawsuit that was later dismissed . Dr. Luke has consistently denied the allegations
Additionally, she was heavily criticized for collaborating on Woman’s World with Dr. Luke, the music producer accused of sexual assault by Kesha in a lawsuit that was later dismissed. Dr. Luke has consistently denied the allegations.
The Pitchfork review noted that her choice to work with Dr. Luke on a feminist anthem was ‘sincerely twisted, if unsurprising.’
The song also received a scathing one-star review from The Guardian, which described the song as ‘reheated Gaga’ and accused it of blatantly borrowing from Chappell Roan’s single Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.
‘Woman’s World sounds like it was designed by a committee in a boardroom at Capitol Records whose sole objective was a sync on RuPaul’s Drag Race and generating comments of “you ate” from white gays living in West Hollywood,’ wrote Alim Kheraj in a scalding review for Dazed.
With ‘lyrics that genuinely felt AI generated,’ the song ‘falls as flat as the bottom of the anvil that crushes Perry halfway through the music video,’ according to Mary Siroky’s review for Consequence Of Sound.