This time two years ago, the big Grammys moment was provided by a white-suited Kesha Sebert singing her comeback single Praying, backed by stars including Camila Cabello and Cyndi Lauper. The empowering ballad is widely perceived to be addressed to her former producer Lukasz “Dr Luke” Gottwald, whom she has accused of abuse and sexual assault.
Though that legal battle continues, and the first music she released without his input was understandably darker in tone, on this fourth album she’s making a break for bluer skies. She’s started rapping again, notably over the computer-game bleeps of Birthday Suit. And few would have expected the embattled Kesha of the past few years to come up with a stomping track called The Potato Song (Cuz I Want To).
The single My Own Dance details her current predicament: “You’re the party girl/You’re the tragedy”, before adding: “We get it that you’ve been through shit/But life’s a bitch so shake your tits and f*** it.” It’s a welcome acknowledgement that she is still allowed to have fun making music and she very much does on the energetic Raising Hell and the thunderous chorus of Little Bit of Love.
Meanwhile, the personal ballad Father Daughter Dance and simple strum of Cowboy Blues show that it would be a simplification to say she’s back to making party pop again. She’s a fully rounded artist with a huge amount to offer.
