{"id":5724,"date":"2020-02-25T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/?p=5724"},"modified":"2020-02-25T20:45:58","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T20:45:58","slug":"high-road-review-kesha-has-reached-her-peak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/2020\/02\/25\/high-road-review-kesha-has-reached-her-peak\/","title":{"rendered":"‘High Road’ Review- Kesha Has Reached Her Peak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Kesha\u2019s words, she\u2019s got her balls back. After her triumphant and bold return with Rainbow, <\/em>she has graced us with yet another wonderful album. This time around she\u2019s re-embraced her updated party girl image.\u00a0For a woman who\u2019s gone through serious trauma and is still battling her abuser to this day<\/a>, High Road<\/em> is a revolutionary album to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first track is a great microcosm of the entire album. It starts off grand- big piano chords and Kesha\u2019s powerful vocals proclaiming that tonight is going<\/em> to be the best night of our lives. There\u2019s a sound reminiscent of a power-ballad in the opening of \u201cTonight,\u201d quickly the beat picks up, and Kesha starts detailing her party animal antics. This transition mirrors the change from Rainbow <\/em>to High Road<\/em>– feeling free to make fun music again but not afraid to make a serious comment, either. She uses the iconic talk-rapping style from tracks like her chart-topper \u201cTik Tok,\u201d earning her the party-girl claim to fame that creates a successful hybrid of the old and the new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s not a song that anybody would\u2019ve imagined coming from Kesha ten years ago.”<\/em><\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

High Road<\/em> progresses with an unabashed desire to enjoy life infused with Kesha\u2019s classic M.O. of \u201cscrew the haters.\u201d \u201cMy Own Dance\u201d references 2012, the year Kesha released Warrior<\/em>, her last album with Dr. Luke. The song doesn\u2019t focus on the healing she went through after the trauma she faced as she did in Rainbow.<\/em> Instead, Kesha does her own dance, she isn\u2019t a puppet for anyone<\/em>. Her initial single and music video release for the album, \u201cRaising Hell\u201d<\/a>, is an allegory for the abuse and manipulation she faced along with the growth and persecution upon dealing with court cases, restraining orders, and degradation from not only the public but her own record label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Road<\/em> follows a transitional pattern that starts with the \u201cparty-Kesha\u201d we knew and loved from the early 2010s with her own 2020 spice, but it moves towards a campfire feel similar to the country-pop songs on Rainbow<\/em>. She earnestly releases her emotions, touching the effects of toxic people in \u201cShadow\u201d and \u201cHoney,\u201d the thoughts that cross your mind when you\u2019re lonely and indulging in hypotheticals in \u201cCowboy Blues,\u201d and the emotions an individual goes through in a manipulative and draining relationship on \u201cResentment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s figuring herself out in this world, and frankly this Kesha is going to write songs like \u201cPotato Song (Cuz I Want To)…\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLittle Bit of Love” breaks the pattern of ballads with some upbeat piano chords- she\u2019s in the process of breaking free, presumably from the relationship referenced in \u201cResentment.\u201d \u201cBirthday Suit\u201d and \u201cKinky (feat. Ke$ha)\u201d not only feel true to the \u201cold\u201d Kesha with their racier topics but truly bring Kesha and the Ke$ha we first met in 2010 together as one individual. She didn\u2019t change- just grown up a lot. She\u2019s figuring herself out in this world, and frankly this Kesha is going to write songs like \u201cPotato Song (Cuz I Want To)\u201d with a fun polka rhythm perfect for her newfound attitude towards life. Growing up is hard<\/em>– she\u2019s making what she wants, even if it\u2019s not going to be a hit, because she wants to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The personal detail in the lyrics goes beat for beat with the elaborate and emotional production. Each song has a definitive mood and feel that gives the lyrics the chance to pack the strongest punch possible. \u201cBFF\u201d even relays specific personal stories, describing how the artist Wrabel sent her a bag of suggestively shaped candies before Kesha\u2019s comeback Grammy performance<\/a>– a moment of massive vulnerability during one of the biggest nights in music. \u201cFather Daughter Dance\u201d gives an intimate portrait of growing up with a single mom and how complicated feelings towards an absent father can be. It\u2019s not a song that anybody would\u2019ve imagined coming from Kesha ten years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conclusion wraps the LP in a bright pink\nbow. The lyrics are vibrant, excited, and leaves the listener ready to take on\nthe world. It\u2019s hard to listen to the tone of \u201cSummer\u201d without a smile creeping\non your face. Kesha has gone through her winter with everything that she\u2019s been\nthrough, Rainbow <\/em>seems to be spring\nfor her- a period of regrowth and change. It\u2019s apt that High Road <\/em>ends with the jubilation that comes with summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kesha\u2019s overcome all the trials that have befallen her and come back to become a better and fuller version of herself. Oftentimes, women who have experienced abuse and trauma are expected to act and behave a certain way- there\u2019s this perception that girls should \u201clearn to behave\u201d. Kesha is radically subverting this and reclaiming a joyous lifestyle, and it\u2019s so refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.8<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Kesha\u2019s words, she\u2019s got her balls back. After her triumphant and bold return with Rainbow, she has graced us with yet another wonderful album. This time around she\u2019s re-embraced her updated party girl image.\u00a0For a woman who\u2019s gone through serious trauma and is still battling her abuser to this day, High Road is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":5725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,530,32],"tags":[330,808,893,806,576,895,807,104,894,129],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5724"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5743,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions\/5743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}