Three years after the release of her comeback album Rainbow, Kesha returns with her fifth studio release, High Road. While promoting the release of this album, Kesha claimed time and time again that she finally “got her balls back,” and that is very evident in this album. There was obviously a restoration in Kesha’s confidence between the releases of Rainbow and this album. For the most part, Kesha’s return to her rebellious party girl image pays off. It could have gone very wrong but Kesha is able to blend her pop roots and her newfound love for country and folk influence very well.
After her turbulent journey into making music again as a result of her legal battle with Dr. Luke, her producer who exploited her sexually, Kesha finally feels like herself again. She is vulgar, funny and sassy. Although this album is not quite as impressive as Rainbow, this is an impressive addition to her discography. The jump from electropop to guitar-based folk never feels forced or out of place and the flawless production makes this album one of her most cohesive.
One of the best parts of this album is Kesha’s willingness to embrace her former persona, Ke$ha, even having this “Ke$ha” character featured in the song “Kinky” (which is the perfect title for the collaboration between her two personalities). This album was crafted to appeal to both people who love Kesha’s past work and her most recent work and it works in that way. The only parts of this album that don’t work are the occasional boring tracks such as “Little Bit of Love”, “BFF (feat. Wrabel)” and “Chasing Thunder”. Other than that, the more tame instrumentals really work as a way of complimenting Kesha’s undeniably beautiful voice.
With the lack of the autotune on this album, Kesha’s true talents really stand out. Her ability to go from a tame and low tone to belting out high notes and hitting falsettos that some of the most talented women in the industry would struggle to hit, is as effortless as her inner and outer beauty.
The album opens with the incredibly fun party track “Tonight” which was clearly made in an intoxicated haze but makes for one of the most enjoyable tracks on the entire project. It leads into the singles “My Own Dance” and “Raising Hell (feat. Big Freedia)” which are both exciting and inspiring. Then the album takes a turn for the country influence. Instead of trap beats and crazy pop vocals, Kesha uses nothing but a guitar and a mixture of other instruments to compliment her voice. “Honey” and “Cowboy Blues” are definitely the most impressive and heartwarming. Kesha then decides to come full circle and showcase some of the more pop-heavy tracks like “Birthday Suit”, “Kinky (feat. Ke$ha)” and “Potato Song (Cuz I Want To)” which is a personal favorite of mine because of the pure originality and abstract vision. The album closes out with some of the more folk-ish songs and the album comes its conclusion.
This album is a great project to showcase Kesha’s true talent. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good pop project with a little bit of a twist that sounds nothing like what’s on the radio.
Rating 8.5/10
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Love this review! You should write more! I agree with everything you said! This album was absolutely amazing it’s good too see kesha again!