Katy Perry, 'Prism'

In summer 2008 I became a loyal Cherry ChapStick customer.

And though the balm has done a stellar job of keeping my lips hydrated for the past five years, my first purchase was not based on the brand’s reputation for keeping lips moist, but because of a certain Katy Perry hit I was listening to on repeat.

First (and best) known for tongue-in-cheek singles like “I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot N Cold” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” Katy Perry literally asks fans on her latest album “Prism” to see her music through a whole new lens.

Certainly, Perry’s been through a lot.

Anyone who’s seen “Katy Perry: Part of Me” can attest to that.

And in her first album since the 2012 divorce with comedian Russell Brand, songs like “Roar” and “By The Grace of God,” among others, show the emotions she has had to work through, relaying a distinctly Kelly Clarkson-esque female power vibe.

This transformation often takes the place of the saccharine layers of pop that made up 2010’s “Teenage Dream,” as Perry seems to have begun a transformation from one pop niche to another.  

One song that does break the “self-help” mold is “Walking on Air.”

An updated ode to C+C Music Factory 1990s dance music that has so much energy — Perry belts, “You’re reading me like erotica, you make me feel exotica” — it seems almost inappropriate to listen to unless you’re jumping around a dance floor with strobe lights.

The album is strong.

But faced with the task of creating a follow-up after nearly every song on “Teenage Dream” became a top-selling single, perfection can be tough to replicate.

And while listeners can still expect plenty of catchy songs with strong vocals — “Dark Horse,” “Birthday,” “International Smile” — those flippant favorites that made Katy Perry a pop icon have begun to fade on her junior album.

Fortunately, “This Is How We Do” still holds onto the satirical vibe first set with “Ur So Gay”.

In a break during the middle of the track Perry yells to a cheering audience, “This is a shout out to all you kids buying bottle service with your rent money!” Katy Perry recently said in an interview with Billboard Magazine that as she gets older (she turns 29 this week) she would like to turn into more of a Joni Mitchell singer-songwriter.

She has plans to put out an acoustic guitar album following “Prism.”

Though this might have seemed impossible that summer Perry was shooting whipped cream from her boobs and I stood in the checkout line at Kroger with cherry ChapStick in hand, a transformation probably isn’t as unbelievable as it once was.