Pop princess Katy Perry’s sophomore album is surely one that will shock her listeners with its new avenue. The headlining single “Roar” went immediately to number one on iTunes due to its upbeat and empowering sound. Prism was released in full October 22 under the label of Capitol Records.

Maturing since her first album Teenage Dream, the sophomore album shows a more grown up Katy in which you can hear a change in her tone. The vocals are just as powerful as ever, but there is a different kind of fire behind them — something other than the quirky teenage vibe that was in her original album. She reveals to the world the dark place she was in after a shattering breakup, one that fans speculate to be her divorce with Russell Brand at the end of 2011. This is evident in songs such as “By The Grace of God” with the lyrics “Laying on the bathroom floor/We were living on a fault line/and I felt the fault was all mine/Couldn’t take it anymore.” It can be heard that Perry was writing with her heart on her sleeve throughout the whole album. Others songs “Roar” and “Love Me” are about Perry’s way back to finding herself and realizing she needed to love herself before anyone else could.

Prism truly shows the evolution of Katy after the emotional whirlwind she experienced and wrote about. The album has a lighter side to it as well, with songs like “Legendary Lovers,” “Birthday,” “Walking On Air,” “Unconditionally,” “Spiritual,” and “This Moment.” In these songs Perry describes how the love of a new man helped her to get over her brokenness and connect with someone on a level she never has before. These songs hint at her relationship with John Mayer and bring back the spunky and sensual side Perry sung with through much of Teenage Dream. Her fun side was brought back with “International Smile” and “This Is How We Do,” both of which are energetic and fun party anthems. Rapper Juicy J is featured on the track “Dark Horse,” which would have been better without his addition.

Katy Perry’s Prism took a new direction compared to her last album, but it was one she was ready for. Her vocals lend perfectly to the songs she wrote herself and nothing was too overdone. Overall, it deserves a rating of four stars out of five.