Kesha blessed us with the music video for her new single Raising Hell this week, and fans can expect more of the same from her upcoming album High Road, as the popstar’s ‘grabbing herself by the balls again’.
The Raising Hell music video sees Kesha, 32, play a murderous televangelist who exorcises church-goers before seducing – and killing – her husband.
It feels like the old, fun-loving and eccentric Kesha is back with a new zest for life after a difficult few years dealing with her sexual assault case against music producer Dr Luke.
High Road is quite literally Kesha freeing herself from her past and, as she so eloquently puts it, grabbing life by the balls again.
‘A huge part of this record is me reclaiming myself and my joy and the person I’ve always been,’ Kesha said at an album playback in London earlier this month.
‘Now I feel like I’ve given myself permission to grab myself by the balls again and be like, this is who I am, I’m a happy person and I don’t have to live in the past. I don’t have to let anything define me from my past.’
She added of High Road: ‘This has really been like a project of finding and celebrating joy after whatever anyone has been through.’
High Road has a few of Kesha’s trademark pop bangers like Raising Hell and My Own Dance, the latter of which she was particularly reluctant to make.
Recalling how the song came about, Kesha revealed: ‘This is the first song I wrote because when I started writing for this project, I was just like, what the f**k kind of record do I make?
‘I like all the music and so, my brother called me when he was high and he was like, “Just make a f***ing pop banger”. And I was like, “Shut up, don’t tell me what to do”. He was like, “Come on just do it”, so I went in the studio with Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons, and I was like f**k it, I’m going to write a pop song but I’m going to be mad about it.’
Turns out, her brother was right all along – even if under the influence – as Kesha had a blast in the recording studio.
‘We ended up having so much fun and just getting wildly f****d up, and everybody in the room was such a psycho,’ Kesha admitted.
Sounds like our kind of party.
The Die Young singer continued: ‘By the end of the day we’re all singing it and clapping and drinking shots in the vocal booth. And I have to say my brother was right – making pop songs is really f***ing fun.
‘So this is my first reluctant pop song I wrote that kind of sums up the album, my feelings. It’s a bit of a mission statement for this album. So this one is called My Own Dance.’
It’s not all fun and frolics though as Kesha bares a bit of her soul on the emotionally-charged Father Daughter Dance, a ballad which sees the singer muse over what life would have been like if her own dad was around.
‘The person I was working with was the most kind, understandable, gentle man to me and I worked a lot with him on Rainbow, his name’s Drew Pierson,’ Kesha explained.
‘He’s a father and that’s something I grew up without. I just want to be really clear, my mum is the most amazing, powerful, iconic bada*s woman, mother that has ever existed.
‘But this particular day, I was just wondering what it would have been like, my life, if I had a father figure. Not that I would choose for my life to be different, but just purely stream of conscious curiosity. I have so much respect for single mothers being raised by one myself and for women who do it themselves. I couldn’t have more respect because I never grew up missing doing anything.’
Kesha admits she was reluctant to include Father Daughter Dance as it felt like it was just that little bit too personal. But after some gentle persuasion from a close friend, she decided to share it with the masses.
‘This song just came out of my mouth. There was no chance in hell I was going to put it on the record because it’s so personal,’ the singer explained.
‘Then I played it for a friend of mine who has a father but was just a very absent father who she hasn’t seen in 12 years. And she said I had to put it on the record.
‘I was convinced by my childhood friend that it was important to share my story because she said a lot of people would relate to it. So here’s probably one of the most intense songs I’ve ever written.’
She then quipped: ‘I’m sorry and you’re welcome.’
Kesha’s new single, Raising Hell, is out now. Her new album High Road is set for release on 10 January 2020.
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