Katy Perry Drops New Song, ‘Small Talk’
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While Katy Perry was at the center of the news cycle last week after a California jury’s controversial decision that her song “Dark Horse” infringed upon the copyright of Flame’s 2008 track “Joyful Noise,” her second single of 2019 is the comparatively lighthearted “Small Talk.”
Written with Johann Carlson (Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande), Charlie Puth and Joacob Kasher Hindlin, the song is about the challenge of becoming friends after a breakup. “We had conversations about forever now it’s about the weather okay/I just can’t believe/We went from strangers to lovers to strangers in a lifetime.”
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“Small Talk” follows Perry’s summer hit, “Never Really Over,” which marked her first new solo music since 2017. Perry with a plaque commemorating 100 million RIAA song certifications, one of only five artists in history to have topped the milestone with digital singles, and the first-ever Capitol Records artist to do so.
After the “Dark Horse” damages were decided last week, defense attorney Christine Lapera made a statement on behalf of the writers of the song, including Perry. “The writers of Dark Horse view the verdicts as a travesty of justice,” the statement reads. “There is no infringement. There was no access of substantial similarity. The only thing in common is unprotectable expression — evenly spaced “C and “B” notes — repeated. People including musicologists from all over are expressing their dismay over this.
“We will continue to fight at all appropriate levels to rectify the injustice,” the statement concludes, presumably meaning that, as expected, an appeal is in the offing.
The statement was issued by Perry’s attorney, Christine Lapera, on behalf of the writers, who are Perry; producers Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald), Cirkut (Henry Walter) and Max Martin (Karl Sandberg); rapper Juicy J (Jordan Houston); and lyricist Sarah Hudson.
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