Review: Katy Perry with Jon Brion, ‘The One That Got Away’

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What will resourceful Katy Perry try next in order to stick one more single from “Teenage Dream” at the top of the charts? An acoustic retooling from famed instrument-savant Jon Brion, it turns out.

The slick version of “The One That Got Away” with Dr. Luke and Max Martin has failed to launch, peaking instead at No. 3, so now Perry’s jettisoned the song’s original gloss for a strummed, piano-laced take that’s subtly detailed but still marred by Perry’s hammy singing. When she stretches out the title phrase toward the end, apparently in an attempt to communicate heart-wrenching angst, you can’t tell if the frustration is directed at wayward husband Russell Brand or simply the capricious whims of the charts that prevented “The One That Got Away” from getting to the top in the first place. Naked ambition is a turn-off sometimes, this rejiggered song being case in point.

Katy Perry with Jon Brion
“The One That Got Away”
Available on iTunes
Two stars (Out of four)

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— Margaret Wappler