'Smile' review: Katy Perry is a pop star with nothing to prove on frothy new album

Where do you go when you've reached the mountaintop? On new album "Smile," Katy Perry is still trying to figure that out.

Since 2008, the ebullient pop megastar has enjoyed unprecedented success. Her spectacular sophomore effort, 2010's "Teenage Dream," is one of only two albums to chart five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. (The other: Michael Jackson's 1987 album "Bad.") She's won five MTV Video Music Awards, earned 13 Grammy nominations and headlined the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show, which is still the most-viewed NFL performance in U.S. TV history.

After all that, "I'm thankful that I'm out of the loop of how intense it is to be red hot for 10 years," Perry told the Los Angeles Times this month. "Because I’ve had all the numbers, honey. Still set those records, honey. Talk to me when you’ve done that."

That red-hot streak ostensibly ended in 2017, with the release of Perry's fourth album "Witness." The singer's move toward so-called "purposeful pop" failed to connect with critics and Top 40 radio, and her well-meaning apologies for past cultural appropriation were overshadowed by a petty public feud with Taylor Swift.

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Which brings us to "Smile," out today. In promoting the album, Perry, 35, has spoken at length about the intense depression she struggled with after "Witness," which was compounded by her breakup from then-boyfriend, now-fiancé Orlando Bloom. The music on "Smile," she says, charts her journey to finding happiness again. On Aug. 27, the day before the album dropped, she and Bloom announced they had welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom.

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Perry's newfound joy and contentment come through on much of "Smile," which contains some of her catchiest and most carefree songs since 2013's "Prism." "Cry About It Later" and "Teary Eyes" are thumping, retro-flavored bangers about dancing through heartache, with Perry deploying vivid metaphors through whispered vocals. ("I've got angel wings but a devil's grin, and only one can win," she sings on the former.)

The fizzy "Champagne Problems" is a charmingly candid ode to Bloom, celebrating "the dirty work" they put into their relationship "so now we know it's worth it." And like many of Perry's most memorable hits, "Tucked" is a cheeky anthem about bedroom fantasies that could've been a summer smash, had it been released as a single.

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In fact, most of the best tracks on "Smile" aren't the ones Perry has shared in the roughly yearlong lead-up to its release. With the exception of "Never Really Over," which tragically underperformed on the charts, the singles so far have been largely forgettable, spouting platitudes about resilience ("Daisies") and gratitude ("Smile") that could've been plucked from a grab bag of Perry's catalog. Other songs, too, draw from the same well of empowerment clichés, with "Resilient" and "Not the End of the World" (a muddy "Dark Horse" retread) serving mostly as filler.

At this point, positivity is practically Perry's calling card, and understandably so. "Firework" and "Roar" are some of her biggest hits ever, and few artists can deliver self-love anthems with as much full-throated confidence and drama as she does. But at a time when many of her peers are evolving their sounds and pushing themselves lyrically, Perry is giving us déjà vu.

For as much as there is to love about "Smile" – and there is a lot – it also feels like the work of an artist who's resting on her laurels, reluctant to take any more big swings after the disappointment of "Witness," and focused on maintaining the brand of Katy Perry rather than forging any new musical ground.

We know that she's capable of even more. But for now, we'll just have to grin and bear it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katy Perry gets her 'Smile' back on sparkling but safe new album