Watch It Burn

On June 25, 2026, Katy Perry released Watch It Burn through Capitol Records, a pop rock single that signaled a deliberate break from the polished pop of her earlier catalog. The song arrived eight months after her November 2025 single Bandaids and found Perry working with a core production team of Justin Tranter, Jason Gill, Eren Cannata, and Daniel Crean. Perry co-wrote the track alongside Amanda "Kiddo" Ibanez, Skyler Stonestreet, and the producers. The lyrics trade her characteristic optimism for something sharper: lines like "Said I was too hard to love... For years / I tried to rise above / Was only light and love / But now I'm shut the f*** up" set the tone for a song about finally letting anger surface.

The music video, directed by Christian Breslauer, continues the narrative from the Bandaids video. Perry appears with a giant scorpion stinger attached to her back, a visual metaphor for balance and self-acceptance. She escapes a hospital, drives through a car wash, and sets a street ablaze before entering a church where she is baptized by congregants and emerges transformed. Easter eggs include a newsstand labeled "Gaslight Magazine" and "Slop Times" that Perry burns, an antique store called "Time Will Tell Shoppe," and a TV displaying the headline "Don't Believe Everything You Hear." The video premiered on MTV Live, MTVU, and the Paramount Times Square billboards.

Critics received the single warmly, noting its raw energy and emotional candor. Perry explained on Justin Tranter's Unfamous podcast on June 17 that she had not allowed herself to express anger for most of her life, and the song became a vehicle for that release. Listeners and commentators speculated that the lyrics draw on the end of her relationship with Orlando Bloom, with whom she shares a daughter. Ahead of the release, Perry previewed Watch It Burn during performances at O Son do Camiño in Spain and Rock in Rio Lisboa. [edit]