After a Traumatic Few Years, Kesha Has Emerged Fiercer Than Ever

Almost a decade after bragging about brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniels, Kesha has done a complete 180, releasing an album of powerhouse emotional anthems.

IMAGE: Olivia Bee.
By Sophia June

[FIERCE POP] Almost a decade after bragging about brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniels, Kesha has re-emerged and done a complete 180, releasing an album of powerhouse emotional anthems. Her "stay up all night even if we die" messages are gone, perhaps due to her ongoing legal battle with producer Dr. Luke, whom Kesha accuses of drugging and raping her. The lawsuits prohibited her from recording and releasing music for five years, which makes the release of Rainbow, produced by Ryan Lewis, especially powerful. "Praying," the album's first single, is a mostly piano-driven gospel anthem, where Kesha addresses her abuser directly. But amidst the pop ballads and fuzzed-out rock and country duets—Kesha sings with Dolly Parton on one track—there are still the same party anthems that made you fall in love with Kesha in the first place. Only now, they're less self-deprecating and more fiercely feminist. See "Woman," the biggest gay-club banger since anything by Lady Gaga, where she sings, "I'm a motherfucking woman, baby, all right/I don't need a man to be holding me too tight."

SEE IT: Kesha plays Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., with Savoy Motel, on Saturday, Oct. 28. 8 pm. Sold out. 21+.

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