Katy Perry 'Dark Horse' REVIEW: Trap-Inspired New 'Prism' Song Featuring Juicy J Adds Underground Elements to Modern Pop Landscape, Interesting Mix for New Album 2013 [LISTEN]

By Carolyn Menyes (c.menyes@gmail.com) | Sep 17, 2013 10:17 AM EDT

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As promised in the Pepsi promotion that "Roar" singer Katy Perry ran before the MTV VMAs, a new song from her upcoming album "Prism" has been released for fans to hear. Following some technical difficulties with iTunes, "Dark Horse" debuted on iTunes shortly after midnight this morning (Sept. 17).

Something like the spiritual successor to "E.T.," "Dark Horse" features rapper Juicy J, and some fans have called it Perry's "trap anthem." The track does, indeed, feature trappy elements, such as the relaxed beats over Juicy J's raps and the verses. The beat is really where this song excels. Full of finger snaps and tweak-y electronic blips, "Dark Horse" is actually somewhat grating, but in all the right ways.

Perry's voice slides downward in the verses as she nearly whispers the lyrics, giving the track a sexy vibe.

"So you wanna play with magic / Boy you should know what you're fighting for / Baby do you dare to do this? / 'Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse," she sings powerfully, building her vocals back up from the verse. The powerful crescendo is something Perry does well, and she executes it perfectly and memorably here.

Then, once again, the beat drops, adding to the more urban feel of the song and making it an interesting addition to the modern pop landscape. As opposed to "Roar," which is a solid track but an expected follow-up thematically and sonically to "Teenage Dream" bonus tracks "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake," "Dark Horse" is completely out of Perry's typical element.

As mentioned the closest things fans had gotten before was "E.T.," but even that song featured more typical Perry sounds.

Judge for yourself, though! Listen to "Dark Horse" below.

As of now, "Dark Horse" is not slated to become the follow-up single to "Roar."

"Dark Horse" is the second song from Katy Perry's third studio album "Prism." It's available for download from iTunes now with pre-orders of the album. "Prism" will be released on Oct. 22.

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