Why Katy Perry's Forthcoming Album Is Called 143: 'It's My Symbol'

Katy Perry's upcoming album may be her most personal one yet.

A day after announcing that her highly anticipated forthcoming album, 143, will be released on Friday, Sept. 20, the pop superstar, 39, revealed the heartfelt meaning behind its title during a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1.

"It's called 143. It's my angel number. It's my symbol, it's my sign," said Perry. "A couple years ago, we were going through a little bit of a hard time medically in our family, and it was a little bit scary, and I started seeing 143 in many different ways, not just on the phone."

The 13-time Grammy-nominated artist said that while the experience was "trippy," finding out that the angel number is "like code for 'I love you'" gave her a sense of comfort.

"I really believe it was my angels, my guides, saying, 'I love you. We got you. We're going to protect you. You're exactly where you're meant to be. You're on the path,'" the singer said.

Perry added that it made her feel like she's "exactly where I'm meant to be at this moment" and wanted to share that with her fans.

"I do love the listener, and I want to give them the love that I've received as best as I possibly can and help invite them into this kind of love frequency," she continued.

In a press release shared with PEOPLE, the forthcoming album was described as a "sexy, fearless return to form."

"I set out to create a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic 143 numerical expression of love as a throughline message," said Perry in a statement.

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The former American Idol judge's new era was launched on Thursday with the release of the upbeat dance single “Woman’s World," featuring confidence-building lyrics such as "sexy, confident/so intelligent/she is heaven sent/so soft, so strong.”