Kesha's New Songs Are 'Post-Pop Emotional Exorcisms' & A Must-Listen

Kesha has been a household name since she released her smash hit "TiK ToK" in 2009 and as consumers, we have a tendency to think we know household names without ever really digging in. For anyone who thought they knew Kesha, the first offerings from her forthcoming fifth studio album Gag Order are a must-listen. On Friday, April 28th, the singer released the joint lead singles "Fine Line" and "Eat the Acid."

Within the first 20 seconds, "Fine Line" had me dropping any external and internal distractions and hanging onto Kesha's every word. The lyrics are clearly the focal point as the instrumentation is very minimal and lacks drums or a beat, making the song feel like a vulnerable monologue. Kesha and her team have described the album, produced by Rick Rubin, as a "post-pop" "emotional exorcism."

She ends the song with a heavy-hitting line about fame & entertainment journalism: "There's a fine line between what's entertaining/ And what's just exploiting the pain/ But, hey, look at all the money we made off me."

"Eat the Acid," the second lead single, definitely has more rhythm but it's still just as emotional. The accompanying visualizer shows Kesha singing the song while hands grab and pull at her face with abandon.

Kesha also published a manifesto alongside the announcement of the album earlier this week. “An artist doesn’t exist to make others happy. I believe an artist gives voice, motion, color to the emotions we all have," she wrote in Nylon. "The good emotions, and the unmanageably f—ing miserable ones.” Kesha has notably been entrenched in a legal battle with producer Dr. Luke for nearly a decade now after he filed a defamation suit against her for claiming that he drugged and raped her in 2005. Earlier this year, a new trial date was scheduled for July 19th by a New York Judge.

Gag Order is set to arrive on May 19th.