"Wide Awake" Katy Perry

As Katy Perry's Teenage Dream era enters its third (!) year, the pop star is hoping for yet another summer smash to join the Album of the Year nomination and six #1 hits that already comprise its impressive accomplishments. For the eighth (and final?) single, she has settled on electro ballad "Wide Awake," a lovely choice that would certainly end things on a high note. Like "Part of Me," it's a post-Russell Brand anthem that gets much more personal than we normally expect from she of the sparkling, whipped cream-spraying breasts. But where that song choked on its own childish anger, "Awake" is self-reflective and surprisingly mature—a lush, billowing composition that features Perry sounding vocally strong and truly assured. It may not be the best work from Dream (that honor still belongs to the joyfully lovesick title track), but it is perhaps the most accomplished. For all its openness, both sonically and emotionally, "Awake" is immensely appealing. A-