Review Summary: Returning to her Animal instinct
Ever since her second act, launched by 2017’s
Rainbow, there has been much discussion about Kesha revisiting the trashy, hooky electropop sound that catapulted her to stardom, but with a newfound sense of agency. Her new album
Period is the first project that delivers on that promise in all aspects; both the artistic vision and the music itself.
Keyword 1 is trashy. Longtime Kesha fans will remember
Animal’s “Dinosaur” and
Cannibal’s “Sleazy” as deep-cut highlights, not in spite of their bratty choruses, and over-sexualised lyrics, but because of them. To see people dismissing new track “Yippee-Ki-Yay” as immature, empty-headed drivel, is to miss the point of what makes Kesha
Kesha. It’s the loveable niche she’s worked hard to carve out for herself in the last decade-and-a-half, and has separated her from the other pop girls (many who’ve come and gone). So when on bonus track “Trashman” she says “hold up, may I get cxnty for a minute?”, you better say yes.
Keyword 2 is hooky. Massive first single “Joyride” was one of last year’s biggest pop moments, thanks to its sirens-blaring chorus and high-speed-circus-sideshow production. It pushed forward Kesha’s sound into a new, exciting territory, as does the hyperpop-inspired “Boy Crazy” and the house-backed posse cut “Attention” (which was inexplicably left off the main album). Mid-tempo cuts “Delusional” and “The One” are callbacks to Kesha’s early 2010s synth-led production, but the hooks are equally huge, with Kesha’s vocals soaring over melodies as strong as on early career ballads like “Blind” and “The Harold Song”.
Period isn’t a perfect album, but
Animal and
Cannibal weren’t perfect either. It is a motley of sometimes annoying, sometimes euphoric, often in-your-face pop that is full to the brim with personality, and always feels like Kesha. Both with the dollar sign, and without.
