Katy Perry has a new source of inspiration for her upcoming music.
Speaking with Fox News Digital Monday night at the “American Idol” Top 10 Tastemaker Event at the Aster hotel in Hollywood, Perry revealed she gets to “create from a different space now.”
“I feel really happy and whole and loved, so that’s different for an artist because usually you’re writing songs out of pain,” she said. “But I actually think that’s kind of the biggest lie that any artist has been sold, is that you have to stay in pain in order to be a great creator.
“Actually, you can be happy and have a life and have a family and still contribute really great things to the world, so it’s going to be, I think the music’s going to be reflective of that love and joy.”
Perry welcomed her daughter, Daisy Dove, with fiancé Orlando Bloom in August 2020.
Perry acknowledged that balancing the joys of motherhood with being an international pop star can be tricky.
“The challenge is the balance of it, finding balance being a matriarch, being a mother, being a boss, being an artist, being a creator, being a leader,” she said. “The opportunity is there to find that balance.
“And the rewarding [part] is just the love, the unconditional love that everybody talks about. It’s a massive cliché, but that is actually it,” she joked.
“Like you climb all these mountains to see the view, and you think that that’s the view that you’re looking for. And honestly, for me, it’s not until I had my child that I realized, actually this is the view I’ve been looking for.”
There have been hints in the past few months that the bestselling artist has new music in the works.
Last week, her fiancé Bloom let it slip that “she’s got new music coming” while appearing on “Today with Hoda & Jenna.”
Host Jenna Bush noted that at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles April 13, Perry was carrying a clear bag with a piece of paper that said “KP6: Top Secret,” fueling speculation about an upcoming album.
Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize
“Ah, yes, I better be careful about what I say,” Bloom said. “There’s a lot of cool things happening. But, essentially, there’s a schedule. You can imagine, there’s many moving parts to get us to do something like that.”
Before Bloom’s interview, Perry was asked by “Extra” about the purse, to which she replied, “Just drip-feeding a little bit.”
In response to a direct question about making new music, she told the outlet, “We’ll see.”
Perry’s last album, “Smile,” was released in 2020, the fifth in her pop career. (She also released an earlier gospel album under her birth name, Katy Hudson.)
When she announced she was leaving her role as a judge on “American Idol” while appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in February, Perry also teased new music in the works.
“I mean, I love ‘Idol’ so much. … It’s connected me with the heart of America, but I feel like I need to go out and feel that pulse to my own beat,” she told Kimmel with a wink.
When asked how her fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie reacted to the news, she joked they’d find out that night and said, “They know that I have some things planned for this year.”
“So, it’s going to be a very, very exciting year … for all popstar girlies!” she added. “They [Bryan and Richie] know. They figure I’ve been in the studio for a while, so they figure something is coming.”
Even though Kimmel teased her about not telling Bryan and Richie before her decision, Perry told Fox News Digital she will always be close with them.
“My friendship with Luke will never die,” she said with a laugh. “I love him so much. I love Lionel so much, and I think our chat will stay alive forever.”
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
But the thing the “Dark Horse” singer said she’d miss most about the show is connecting with the hopeful contestants.
“I’m going to miss the storytelling, the inspiring backgrounds of all of these kids, you know, the struggle that they go through, the hope that they find,” she said.
“I’m going to miss watching them bloom and blossom before my very eyes. I’m going to miss watching them find their confidence, and I’m just going to miss how they inspire me, like hearing them and seeing their resilience week after week. It’s just incredibly exciting.”
The top 10 contestants were announced Monday night after performing the night’s theme, Billboard No. 1 hits.
Perry has her favorites, but she’s rooting for anyone who’s willing to put in the work.
“I’m not sure my favorite will take the whole thing necessarily. I think I tend to go for people that I hope will have long careers after the show,” she said.
“I’m good with any of them winning at this rate, and I’m sad that the two that left. [But] this is just a platform to launch. You gotta hustle, you’re going to hustle even more.”