Album Review: Kesha – “.”

You’re probably wondering what pop icon Kesha is doing on an alternative website like this. Well, let me put it this way… imagine someone put you in a cage, and your captor forced you to make him music and money for over ten years. You’d probably be pretty pissed, your creations might be colored by that reality. Now imagine you’re free of that cage, and you’re making money and music for yourself. If you’re wondering how that liberated art might sound, enter Kesha.

This is a huge moment for liberation. And none know that better than Kesha, who has reclaimed her autonomy, started her own label, and begins her new album with a song called “FREEDOM” —The song opens with a haunting operatic and siren-like call, and her chanting of “Freedom, I’ve been waiting for you”, which is felt deeply. The song then releases itself into a fun, funky baseline with snappy pop lyrics. This is Kesha elevated.  

“I only drink when I’m happy, and I’m drunk right now.”

When I think of Kesha’s voice (who she is speaking for), I think of the modern American woman dealing with the trials and tribulations of dating culture, the ubiquity of alcohol, and the reverie of a joyful night out. Kesha was a keystone collegiate millennial experience. Her return, on her terms, marks a great moment of joy that has an uplifting feeling of the universe correcting itself. It evokes the nostalgia of a messy bar with sticky floors, a boisterous pregame before the party, or the first night after moving to a big city. It captures the excitement of your early twenties and that freshman year of life. Nobody likes you when you’re twenty-three… except for Kesha, she loves you. 

Kesha shows that her vocal prowess with the third song on the album, “YIPPIE-KI-YAY”. She hits some gnarly high notes right off the bat, and the feeling of 2011 infiltrates the psyche. Her song commiserates with the pains of being single and looking. “RED FLAG” dances with tropes of attracting people who ultimately aren’t good for us. “LOVE FOREVER” is more optimistic and evokes Daft Punk with its melodic hooks. 

“I see a red flag walking by, and he really does it for me.”

The album’s second half has banger, “BOY CRAZY” and ballad, “CATHEDRAL” in a balancing act that lives someplace between ripping shots of fireball, journaling in a cashmere cardigan, and screaming into a pillow.

“Every second is a new beginning. I died in the hell, so I could start living again.”

We here at the Indy Review support independent music and artistic expression unclouded by capitalist greed. A warm congratulations to Kesha on her musical saga and this turning point in her career. We look forward to more creations from her in the future.

And a little nod to the world of indie: Kesha is a superfan of the group Guster, whom we covered just a week ago. If you dig a little deeper into her interviews, you’ll discover that her influences are niche, deep, and fabulous. 

“Guster posters are all over my childhood walls. And since I was 12 years old, I was obsessed with one band, and it was Guster.”

– Kesha

Hear the album’s pre-released tracks here, and listen to the whole album when it comes out on July 4th (Independence Day, of course!).