“I’m, like, pop star when I have to pop star, and then I’m, like, naked hippy when I can naked hippy.” So Kesha explained recently on the Jennifer Hudson Show, going on to say she spent most of her time romping in the woods and chasing butterflies. A far cry, then, from the trailer trash Gaga guise she adopted when she exploded in 2009 with global chart-topper “Tik Tok” (“Brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack”!). Her sixth album sees a sometimes vital, sometimes awkward collision between the above personas.
Kesha has rarely been predictable – remember when she did a song with Flaming Lips – and her last album, Gag Order, made with Rick Rubin, showcased a soul-bearing, trippy experimental side. Underrated but heartfelt, exciting, and original, its commercial performance was less than hoped-for, nonetheless, Period’s opening song, “Freedom” feels like an extension of its mood, beginning with two-and-a-half minutes of floaty new age piano waft, before blossoming into muscular Daft Punk-ish funk and a chorus of “I only drink when I’m happy and I’m drunk right now".
Period is Kesha’s first work since settling her decade-dominating court case with Dr Luke, and leaving his Kemosabe label. It feels like an ebullient response, veering between clappy electro-bangers, hyperpop funk and something cheesier, with a side order of gay club hi-NRG. In the latter category, “Boy Crazy” is entertainingly notable, a sexed-up, speeding assault proclaiming, “Boys are my cocaine”. Working with Florida super-producer duo Nova Wav and Charli XCX associate Zhone, Kesha achieves a post-Brat sound that’s lathered in quirky personality.
Sonically compressed stadium candy-bombast such as “The One” is unwelcome but, from the stomping tango-accordion-fuelled single “Joy Ride” to the euphoric, housey love song “Too Hard”, there’s much here that zings with Kesha’s very particular brand of gobby, eccentric charm and dancefloor punch. It’s good to have her back.
Below: Watch the video for "Joyride" by Kesha
