Katy Perry clowns around in the new video for her latest single "Smile," which was released Friday (August 14) after an early premiere on Facebook.
In the official "Smile" clip — the track's second video following the "Smile" performance video released in July — Perry has just finished baking a pie as she discovers an elaborate gaming system in her home. She sits down and plays the "Smile" game, which features an animated clown character bearing Perry's likeness.
While the quite-pregnant "Daisies" singer rocks various Harlequin fashion looks throughout the video, most of it takes place within the game in scenes animated by Nathan Love. The video's largely-animated nature is likely due to filming restrictions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, though Perry has produced many in-person videos as of late thanks to the use of a private warehouse space in Burbank, California, according to an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Check out the official music video for "Smile" below:
"I'm 2.0, remodeled / Used to be dull, now I sparkle / Had a piece of humble pie / That ego check saved my life," the 35-year-old sings on the upbeat, cheery single.
Both the song and video follow a theme of finding the silver lining in a tough situation — which Perry recently revealed she was forced to do following the under-performance of 2017's Witness album; and her split from fiancé Orlando Bloom the same year.
"I had given so much out, and it literally broke me in half. I had broken up with my boyfriend, who is now my baby daddy-to-be," the singer told CBC back in June. "And then I was excited about flying high off the next record. But the validation did not make me high, and so I just crashed."
Now she's back to the fun-loving Katy Perry we've known since "I Kissed a Girl," slapping the aforementioned pie in her face at the end of her new video to prove it.
The new "Smile" clip comes the day her forthcoming sixth studio album of the same name was originally set for release. In July, Perry revealed on Twitter that due to "unavoidable production delays" its new release date is August 28.