It’s been three years since Katy Perry dropped her fourth studio album, Prism, and while we still don’t have a concrete date or title for her follow-up, we do have an inspiring new song.
Perry appeared via video on the Today Show this morning to announce her new single, “Rise,” which will be used as the official anthem for the US Olympic team in Rio.
In the short clip, Perry explains that she’s been working on “Rise” for a while, saying “There’s a song that’s been brewing inside me for years and has finally come to the surface.”
The “Roar” singer ends the clip on a positive note, saying “Let’s be inspired, let’s heal, let’s unite and rise.”
Perry doesn’t appear in the new music video, which features footage from past Olympics. The 13-time Grammy winner sings “”Oh, ye of so little faith / Don’t doubt it, don’t doubt it / Victory is in your veins / You know it, you know it / And you will not negotiate / Just fight it, just fight it / And be transformed.”
The timing of the new track coincides with the upcoming summer Olympics, but Perry notes that “Rise” is also an anthem for anyone going through struggles, a timely track considering the escalating tensions in the US over gun violence and yesterday’s bombing in Nice, France. “Now more than ever, there is a need for our world to unite,” says Perry. “I know that together, we can rise above the fear in our country and around the world.”
Katy Perry’s return to music and new single “Rise” couldn’t have come at a better time.