The singer was asked to address the controversy on Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast after fans called her out for working with him again ... after his lengthy legal battle with Kesha -- who infamously accused DL of rape and abuse years ago.

For the record, Dr. Luke has vehemently denied the allegations and even sued Kesha for defamation. Luke and Kesha agreed on a settlement last year.

While Katy danced around discussing the situation at length -- even avoiding naming Dr. Luke (real name Łukasz Gottwald) directly -- she made it clear she saw the outrage online.

She added ... "I understand that it started a lot of conversations and he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with."

KP emphasized that Luke was one of many contributors for "143" -- which is set to drop on September 20 -- but defended it was really her project at the end of the day.

She continued ... "But the reality is, it comes from me. The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis, and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that."

From the sounds of it, Katy simply decided to reunite the music team that helped make her "Teenage Dream" era a success ... which includes Dr. Luke, who produced her first mega-hit, "I Kissed a Girl," as well as "California Gurls."

This is the first time Katy has directly spoken about Dr. Luke's participation on "143" ... previously ignoring questions from fans while in Paris this summer.

We're not sure Katy's statement will be enough to appease frustrated fans ... who think Dr. Luke shouldn't be involved in her "Woman's World."