Following her legal battle with producer Dr. Luke, Kesha is finally recording new music. An apparent collaboration with hard rock band Eagles of Death Metal suggests a swift departure from her poppy, ‘party girl’ image.
The release of smash hit “Tik Tok” in 2010 immediately labeled Kesha as a party girl. Despite repeated claims to the contrary, she has not been able to fully shake that image. It was one carefully cultivated by Sony producer Dr. Luke, whom Kesha accused of abuse and sexual assault in 2014.
Ever since, Kesha has been stuck in a stalemate. Unable to record or produce new music without Dr. Luke, she resorted to side projects. In 2015, she played hippy-psych versions of her biggest hits with band Yeast Infection. In 2016, she went on the F*ck the World Tour with her band as Kesha and the Creepies, transforming those same hits into rock and country tracks.
Now, after Sony parted ways with Dr. Luke in April (as reported in NME), she is back in the studio. According to a recent interview with Rolling Stone and Eagles of Death Metal guitarist Dave Catching, Kesha recorded two new songs with the band for her upcoming album.
"“She used to come to Eagles shows when she was 16,” Catching is quoted saying in Rolling Stone. “She was always a big fan. Then I remember we got back from Europe … and she was on every magazine cover when we landed from a tour. It was really amazing.”"
A year prior to making her allegations against Dr. Luke in 2014, Kesha spoke with Rolling Stone about the second season of her reality show, My Crazy Beautiful Life. (The series did not get a third season.)
In the interview, she addressed the #FreeKesha petition. The petition had about 3,000 signatures at the time and stated that Kesha essentially a puppet. Kesha admitted to having little creative control. She said: “I don’t want to just continue putting out the same song and becoming a parody myself. I have so much more to offer than that and I can’t wait till the world really gets to hear that on the radio.”
That year, she teamed up with The Flaming Lips to release a full-length LP (Lip$ha). Presumably as a result of her legal battle, the LP never saw the light of day. That’s a shame. Kesha’s performances with Yeast Infection and the Creepies were trippy but also soulful, clearly more up to speed with music she wants to make. Kesha having more creative control over her music — exploring different sounds — can only be a step in the right direction for her career.
Pairing up with Eagles of Death Metal, a hard rock band that’s been around since the late 90s, suggests a swift departure from the pop music Kesha recorded under the guidance of Dr. Luke. Hopefully, now that Sony has parted ways with him, she’ll actually be able to release new music.
Related Story: The “Song of the Summer” battle is on – meet the candidates
Fans who’ve grabbed at any opportunity to hear her in the last few years, rejoice! The future finally looks bright for Kesha.