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 on July 15 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 explained 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.”
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 last month’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.”
Perry dropped an Olympic-themed video for “Rise,” which featured current and past Olympians performing at the world games. The Grammy nominee does not appear in the video, but that changed today.
On Monday, Perry began teasing the official music video for “Rise,” uploading a short clip to Instagram. Now Perry has dropped the full video and is inspiring us to start doing wind sprints at the gym.
Perry looks like a post-apocalyptic skydiver, complete with a futuristic jumpsuit, combat boots, dreadlocks, and a few beautifully placed bruises. Perry fights with her parachute while training in a warehouse before ending up stuck on the side of a mountain and later finding herself in a river, with neither seeming like ideal landing spots. The singer’s training eventually pays off and Perry is able to ‘rise’ above the red mountains.
In addition to being used by the US Olympic Team, Perry also performed the new single at last week’s Democratic National Convention in support of Hillary Clinton. We’re almost ready to officially announce “Rise” as the “Roar” of 2016.