“This Is How We Do” by Katy Perry

song info

    “This Is How We Do” by Katy Perry (official video) is a dance-pop song/

link to the static song information page for this song:
http://www.thissideofsanity.com/music/songs/th/thisishowwedo.php

    Summary quotation from Wikipedia:

    “This Is How We Do” is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry for her fourth studio album, Prism (2013). It was written by Perry along with its producers Max Martin and Klas Åhlund and recorded in Stockholm, Sweden. The song was chosen to be the album’s fifth single and it will be sent to radio stations on August 12, 2014. “This Is How We Do” is a dance-pop song, with “faux”-urban and hip-hop infuences, with Perry sing-talking about her hangout routine with her friends.

    Music critics gave the song mixed to favorable reviews, with many praising its old-school vibe, calling it the song of the summer, while others criticized its lyrics. Some compared the song to her previous singles, “California Gurls” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”. Upon the release of its parent album, “This Is How We Do” charted on the South Korean Digital Chart.

Background and release

    The Swedish people really have quite an ear for pop music and it’s been historically known that the Swedes know how to make pop music very well and of course I wanted to tap into something of that.
    —Perry about working with the Swedish producers.

    While working on Prism, Perry collaborated in Stockholm to with record producer Max Martin for a few weeks to put “the icing on the cake,” as she claimed. In addition, she also worked with Klas Åhlund, among others. Perry has claimed:

    “Max has always been incredibly kind to me, he is the most authentic Swedish person I have ever worked with, and he just has an incredible ear for melodies and how they should be, we had so much fun making music together, we get really excited, we like to dance around the studio. He brought me to Stockholm to introduce me to a couple of different musicians, like Klaus Åhlund, I really enjoyed working with them. The different kind of sonic level of music that’s been made over in Sweden is very advanced and it’s very fresh… they kinda know what is coming first.”

    About working with Perry, Åhlund stated, “When you move around the planet, the vibe of the place you’re making the music in definitely makes an imprint on whatever you’re writing.” While co-producing nine tracks on “Prism”, Martin and Åhlund worked together on two tracks: “Walking on Air” and “This Is How We Do”. The first was released as a promotional single, while the latter was announced as the album’s fifth single, with its lyric video being released on July 24, 2014. “This Is How We Do” will be sent to radio stations on August 12, 2014.

Composition

    “This Is How We Do” was written by Perry with producers Max Martin and Klas Åhlund, who were also responsible for programming of the song, while Perry also provided background vocals. It is set in the time signature of common time and has a moderate hip-hop tempo of 84 beats per minute. The song is is written in the key of C major, and Perry’s vocals span from the low-note of A₃ to the high-note of A₄. The song has been described as a “wobbling dance track”, with hip-hop underpinnings and “faux-urban west coast pose”. Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times remarked that the song is “replete with synth squiggles and melodic dots — slowed and chopped.” Kitty Empire of The Observer claimed that the song is “a sequel of sorts to both ‘California Gurls’, and ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’, Perry’s previous party-hearty mega-hits.”

    Lyrically, “This Is How We Do” finds Perry sing-talking about her hangout routine with her friends, also encouraging her fans to spend money they don’t have just so they can have a good time, as noted by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic. Empire claimed that on the song, Perry and her friends “are on the prowl for tacos and hotties”, “sucking really bad at Mariah Carey-oke”. While also claiming that the song recalls her own ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)’, Ben Ratliff of The New York Times claimed that its lyrics are “more modest, adult, and middle-class idea of fun — tacos, karaoke, and ‘gettin our nails did, all Japanese-y.’” The song also has a repetitive bridge where Perry repeats, “This is no big deal”, an outro where Perry asks to “bring the beat back”, while Perry also gives a shout-out to her diehards: “This one goes out to the ladies at breakfast… in last night’s dress. Uh-huh. I see you,” she says.

Critical reception

    The song received mostly mixed reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic claimed that “even when she cheers on excess on ‘This Is How We Do’ she’s not a participant but rather a ringmaster,” picking the song as one of the album’s highlights. Jason Lipshut of Billboard wrote that the song “carries ‘song of next summer’ potential,” while Edna Gundersen of USA Today named it a “buoyant pop blast.” In similar vein, James Montgomery of MTV News described the track as “a cocksure, club-ready banger.” Nick Catucci of Entertainment Weekly called it “irresistibly bouncy,” while Andy Gill of The Independent noted that the song “offers the year’s best top-down cruising anthem.” Rob Harvilla of Spin enjoyed the track, but felt it wasn’t as strong as “Last Friday Night”, ultimately calling it “a knuckleheaded, bottle-service party jam.”

    Chris Bosman of Consequence of Sound criticized the “‘this goes out to the [blank]’ coda”, claiming that “it only hammers home how much better Kesha is at this stuff.” Melinda Newman of HitFix gave the song a “C-” grade, claiming that “It’s hard not to raise your arm in the air and wave it back and forth in this old-school sounding track about partying”, claiming that the song is “unlike anything else Perry has recorded before” and that it “could be a sleeper hit.” Evan Sawdey of PopMatters was mixed with the song, calling it an “odd number, where her lyrics swing from actually-clever (‘suckin’ real bad at Mariah Carey-oke’) to a bit worrisome (‘getting our nails did / all Japanese-y’).” While calling it a “a Ke$ha-grade throwdown”, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine claimed that the track “features possibly the dumbest lyric of the year.” Philip Matusavage of musicOMH felt that the song “is so clearly calculated to every second that it instead feels cynical.”

Music video

    A music video for the song was released on July 31, 2014. It opens with a visual of an old man staring at a painting, which turns out to be Perry. According to Rolling Stone she presents a “hedonistic paradise where ping-pong is played all day, tacos are feasted on and animated ice cream cones twerk it out while chilling with half-eaten slices of pizza”. A caricature of singer Mariah Carey appears during the “sucking at Mariah Carey-oke” line, as well as a portrait of singer Aretha Franklin. Billboard said the video is “an explosion of pop art, vintage fashion and twerking ice cream cones”. She also “wears everything from Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic Mondrian dress to a pepperoni pizza swimsuit to green hair extensions. She even cruises around in a convertible with her hair teased out to Fran Drescher proportions.”

Charts

    “This Is How We Do” has charted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 84, and on South Korea’s Gaon Download Chart, debuting at number 73, with sales of 2,263 copies.

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