Kesha's New Record Is a Mess, In a Good Way
(Period.) picks up sort of where 2023's Gag Order — her final release on her former label, Kemosabe — left off: The music is shapeless, the wailing wordless. Eventually, the blur begins to clear. 'Freedom,' Kesha bellows, her voice opening wide on the vowels as the instrumentation narrows around her. Finally — after a pitchman-sounding voice trills, 'Narcissism! It makes you happy!' — a beat drops in, and 'Freedom' goes from amorphous to pointed, whirling through post-punk dance-floor raging and gospel-choir riffing while Kesha coolly yet saucily purrs carefree raps like 'Crazy girls are better in bed/Well, I can do one better instead.'
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Kesha's taste for pop experimentation is in full flower on (Period.), her indie debut well-timed to the long-brewing mainstream break of the hedonistic, neon-hued, kitchen-sink genre known as hyperpop. 'Joyride,' the album's thumping first single, blends norteña accordion blasts, huge backing vocals, and mouth-stretching enunciation; on 'Yippie-Ki-Yay,' Kesha takes over the DJ booth at a honky-tonk, lending her mighty voice to lyrics about 'double-cupping straight gasoline' and adding foundation-rattling beats.
Things mellow out a bit as (Period.) draws to a close. 'Glow' is serenely self-satisfied, Kesha's glitched-out voice darting through eight-bit synths. The album ends with 'Cathedral,' a clear-eyed look at survival that's also a reminder of Kesha's gravity-defying vocal prowess. 'Every second is a new beginning/I died in the hell so I could start living again,' she shouts amid droning strings and resolute piano, then declares: 'I'm the cathedral.' (Period.) shows that Kesha is ready to take in all who have believed in her.
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