Entertainment Weekly - 11.2019

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SWIMMING WITH SHARKS

“I love doing things that

scare me, and for anyone who

ever would want to be in a

relationship with me, they

should know these things up

front. I’m a wild spirit. I’m a

wildflower, and I’m going to

always chase the storm.”

’90S COUNTRY

“Listening to ’90s country

music is my hands-down

favorite before I go out.

When I’m getting pumped up,

it’s the Spice Girls and

’90s country. Deep down there

is an influence there.”

HARMONY KORINE’S

THE BEACH BUM

“I saw the movie and that

was inspiring to me because,

as a bum, I very much

relate to that character.”

KESHA’S

PICKS

“I got my balls back,”
Kesha proclaims of the
driving force behind her
currently untitled fourth
album, out this Decem-
ber. The follow-up to
her Grammy-nominated
2017 LP is primed to
take fans on a roller-
coaster ride through an
eclectic mix of styles
she lovingly defines as
“weirdo pop.”
While Rainbow was
about coming out of the
darkness—the project
came after Kesha
accused former collab-
orator Dr. Luke of sexual

assault and physical

abuse; he denied the

claims and countersued

for defamation, and the

case is still ongoing—

her new album

embraces what it’s like

to bask in the sun after

the storm. “If you keep

pushing through the

darkness, you’ll find a

rainbow, and I feel like

I finally arrived there,”

she muses. “I want

that to be inspiration

to other people—by

embracing the vulnera-

ble side of myself but

also the strong, and the

person that wants to

lead a joyful, happy, and

free life.”

Part of that is return-

ing to the dance pop of

her first two records

and falling back in love

with her free-spirit

image. “I’ve been told

to be fun before, but

now I’m genuinely

having fun,” she says.

“[It’s] a self-deprecating

look at what I believe

the music industry

wants someone to be

versus the fact I’m

f---ing everything,

I’m not just one thing.

I’m not just the party

girl and I’m not just

a tragedy.”

Kesha began writing

the album following the

end of her last tour and

found herself drifting

back to the singer-

songwriter vibes of

Rainbow. When her

brother suggested she

try writing a pop song

again, she begrudgingly

gave it a shot. “I came

back around to realiz-

ing that I f---ing love

pop music,” she says.

“I had been depriving

myself of something

I loved because I wasn’t

supposed to have fun.”

The new project also

has her revisiting the

rap-inflected vocals of

her earlier work. It’s

something she likewise

had to give herself

permission to do. “I

decided to take that

part of my voice back,”

she explains. “It felt like

it didn’t belong to me.

People know about the

hard things I’ve gone

through, and [that]

made me realize I’m

allowed to be happy. I

don’t have to live in the

past. I don’t have to be

defined by something

s---ty that’s happened

to me. I can be present

and find compassion

for myself, and come

out having a really

f---ing amazing life.

Hopefully, that gives

people hope.”

Rainbow

OVER THE

KESHA

PREVIEW

FALL

Music

HER LAST RECORD PLUMBED THE

TOUGHEST PERIOD OF HER LIFE

NOW SHE’S JUMPING BACK INTO

THE PARTY. BY MAUREEN LEE LENKER

.

76 NOVEMBER 2019 EW ● COM

KESHA: ASHLEY OSBORN; SHARK: GETTY IMAGES/CULTURA RF;

THE BEACH BUM

: ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/NEON