Album Review: Kesha - "."

Period, Kesha's sixth studio album and first independent release, is a welcoming return to her former partying crazed persona. It's a liberating triumph of pure joy that's worth celebrating.

Kesha - 2025

For nine years, Kesha has been embroiled in a legal battle with mega producer Dr. Luke and his label Kemosabe Records. The late 2000's/early 2010's era pop star claimed to be abused and harassed by Luke in a predatory way and she was stuck on his label for years. During this time, she was embroiled in an exhaustingly lengthy lawsuit battle as a result until 2023, when it finally got settled. I won't go into details here, but all of it is horrible and disgusting and Dr. Luke can certainly rot in hell. Sorry, "Made In China" can certainly rot in hell (he changed his producer tag in a cowardly attempt to quietly continue to produce under a low profile). I do feel for Kesha in all of this and it must be super messy and difficult for her, let alone any musician, to continue to work creatively in the music industry under such a high profile. So far, she's done it with plenty of grace and it's exemplified on Gag Order, her 2023 record produced by Rick Rubin. Since she wasn't allowed to talk about the case at that time, the album is remarkably successful at getting her point across without explicitly addressing any related matters, with some raw production and the bold decision to retreat from making the fun, wild pop album she will typically craft. Her vulnerability and strength is beyond impressive for anyone who is in this type of situation.

Released on July 4th of last year, "Joyride" is her first new music that isn't under the Dr. Luke umbrella. Instead, it is self released on her own label, Kesha Records, and this song is an absolute banger. I was instantly enamored by the bold, brash creativity and inventiveness of the song, it's unapologetic combo of hyper pop, accordion driven polka, and electro dance pop, her lyrical trade of claiming that she is, indeed, mother. I listened to it over and over and over again. It is one of the best songs of 2024 and now that more time has passed, I'll say that it's easily the best one. Despite what my year-end list says, I can confidently confirm that it's so great that it easily beats anything off of BRAT and beyond. Exactly one year after the release of "Joyride," her new album finally has arrived. Period (stylized as the punctuation mark, not the word), Kesha's sixth studio album and first independent release, is a welcoming return to her former partying crazed persona. It's a liberating triumph of pure joy that's worth celebrating.

At eleven tracks and thirty-eight minutes in runtime, Period has the chaotic variety that's all over the place, but the album plays pretty well all the way through in both chronological and random order. The opening six and a half minute "Freedom" starts out stylistically from another universe in comparison to the rest of the album, where there's a full minute of minimal, ambient art pop, as Kesha channels her inner Björk, Julianna Barwick or Caroline Polachek. It's one strange and a stark opening, especially for a Kesha record. I even thought I was listening to an entirely different artist at first. It's quite gorgeous and surprisingly impressive, considering it's Kesha, an artist who has never come up when talking about ambient music, unless you think of ambient music as abrasive, drunken dance pop. The ambient piece then suddenly morphs into a sunny, blissful synth funk bop, where you'll hear arguably the best opening lyrics to any album ever: "I only drink when I'm happy and I'm drunk right now." It's 100% Kesha. It's fantastic, triumphant, and is easily one of the best songs of the year. The shimmering piano, slap bass, and the choir vocals (chanting "freedom, I've been waiting for ya") is amazing and they give me chills every time I hear them. It perfectly encapsulates Kesha's new era as an independent artist and what makes her a memorable pop star.

"Yippee-Ki-Yay," initially released as a single, capitalizes on the country craze with a wildly infectious throw down full of auto tune, booming bass, and handclaps. At first, I thought it was way too obnoxious to be enjoyable, given its multi-layered, ultra busy chorus, but it's definitely grown on me and it has become a surprisingly charming highlight. I should note that the album on streaming differs from the T-Pain assisted version on physical editions. The T-Pain version makes things even more claustrophobic and elongated, only subtracting from the original as a result. I should also note that you'll probably hear "bitch" more times than you can count (it's a Kesha album, after all). "Red Flag" is cheery synth pop that skips gleefully, despite how many red flags she is given from the aforementioned other individual on the song. There's also a great kick drum rhythm that's quite reminiscent of New Order's "Blue Monday." "Love Forever" is solidly slick disco pop that's perfect for relaxing at the beach. "Boy Crazy" continues the hyper pop train at full speed in a cooky new wave cut, full of the wild energy that we all welcome from Kesha. "Glow" has all the carefree autotune, high pitched and silly glitch pop of a 100 gecs song. There are even moments where one could easily mistake Kesha as the duo themselves.

There are a few bumps along the mostly smooth ride, moments that don't always stick the landing. And not because of anything bad necessarily, but rather these are songs that are either played way too safe or are presented straight down the middle (or both). Tracks like "Delusional," "The One," and "Too Much" bring back the nostalgic, Obama era optimism, synth heavy pop of the late 2000's and early 2010's, where Kesha's vocals could be easily replaced by Katy Perry or Pink and no one would even notice. But with all the creative genre mashups and stylings within the other album tracks, these perfectly ok songs interrupt the party and they don't have any place here. Bring them back to 2013 where they belong, please! "Cathedral" (which many say acts as a companion piece to 2017's "Praying") attempts an ultra emotional finale and for the most part it's resonating, but its dubstep like drops and vocal peaks that absolutely DO NOT reach, making the album's momentum stop a little short than desired. I appreciate the rawness in the vocal performance, but the song just isn't executed the way she's intending it to be. Another song to mention is "Attention!," which was released as a prior single (and as of this writing, is an additional track on the album's deluxe edition). Its energy perfectly captures the OG '09 Kesha and electro pop vibes while also incorporating modern techniques, along with great guest appearances rom Slayyyter and Rose Gray. The chorus sounds like it could've easily been on Animal or Warrior. When it comes to recapturing the magic that initially made Kesha special, this song is the best at doing so. I really do wish this was included on the standard version of the album, but I'll take what I can get. I do think it would've made the album a little better if this replaced one of the more lackluster cuts.

As far as this record goes, it's a Period Summer for me. The majority of these songs work out way better in execution than on paper, where wild genre mashups and playful experimentation are welcomed and applauded. Sure, there are a few middling points that are annoyingly basic, but its many highlights certainly outweigh those that left me wanting more. Though I didn't mention all of them, there are so many great memorable lines that you would only hear on a Kesha album. Her personality is so hard not to be charmed by. The fact that Period is being released on Kesha's very own label is worth celebrating in its own right, regardless if you're going to listen to it or not. But with songs that are this damn good and are this successful at showcasing Kesha's talents at being a songwriter, performer, and pop star... why would you listen to anything else? Like, seriously, if you're not actively listening to this, do you actually hate yourself?

My Rating: 7 / 10

Favorite Songs: "Joyride," "Freedom," "Red Flag," "Boy Crazy," "Yippee-Ki-Yay," "Love Forever," "Glow"