Stars: 4/5
Kesha has evolved from the party hard, autotuned pop star she entered the music world as and while I still party to “Tik Tok” like I’m nine years old, I honestly forgot she existed. Her fourth studio album “High Road” contains 16 tracks with a wide variety of messages and styles.
Paying homage to her roots, “Kinky” features Ke$ha. The track pulls the same, up beat, techno style of her older songs. While “Tonight” and “My Own Dance” acknowledge the growth and transformation she has gone through. She is no longer relying on autotune and party hits to sell her songs, however, she still provides a few dance anthems.
“Raising Hell” featuring Big Freedia, pulls from gospel inspired music to encourage living the wildlife. Drawing from the early 2000 R&B vibe, “Honey” calls out two faced friends and could have anyone feeling like a boss. “BFF” featuring Wrabel provides a chorus that best friends will be singing for months to come.
Kesha doesn’t hesitate to pull inspiration from various art forms. “Potato Song (Cuz I Want To)” offers a show tune like beat compliments her outlandish fantasy about living on an island to ignore reality. “Birthday Suit” could be the next TikTok song with its video game inspired music and expressive lyrics that you can’t help but dance along to.
On a different note, Kesha provides songs such as “Cowboy Blues” and “Summer” that tie into a more laid back, country infused sound. The songs do a beautiful job of highlighting how powerful her vocals truly are.
“Resentment” featuring Sturgill Simpson, Brian Wilson and Wrabel, “Shadow” and “Father Daughter Dance” all provide a stripped down, acoustic vibe that Kesha makes uniquely her own. “Chasing Thunder” makes it sound like her voice was meant to be paired with an acoustic guitar and nothing else.
The titular single is an absolute bop that will have anyone singing along by the end of the song. However, “Little Bit Of Love” is by far the strongest single with its heartfelt lyrics and mildly upbeat tone.
The album is a mashup of her random, sporadic thoughts paired with a variety of different beats and that’s the exact reason I can’t decide if I love the album. There is an overall lack of a theme or message. She jumps from heartfelt songs to random lyrics very few can relate to.
There’s a song for everyone, the difficulty is finding the song for you. The problem is, you might just find yourself ditching the album before finding the right song. It’s entertaining but lacks the connection of a traditional album.
The controlled chaos, while confusing, is on point for the famed wild spirit of Kesha.
