kesha’s sixth studio album, titled simply “. (period)”, arrives trailing significant anticipation. Hailed by the pop star herself as the inaugural project created from a place of genuine liberation, this record marks a powerful pivot point. Following years dominated by highly publicized legal battles and their emotional toll, Period signals a conscious and seemingly joyful embrace of the freewheeling, chaotic, and unapologetically hedonistic persona that first catapulted Kesha Sebert to global fame in the early 2010s. This deep dive explores how the album successfully navigates this return, blending diverse pop styles while offering only fleeting glimpses of the trauma that defined her recent past.
Reclaiming the Wild: The Return of Kesha 1.0
For long-time followers of Kesha’s career trajectory, the framing of Period feels both familiar and profoundly new. The promotional image of the singer topless on a jetski immediately evokes the audacious, rule-breaking spirit that defined her early hits like “TiK ToK”. Kesha described her 2017 album Rainbow similarly, calling it life-saving and featuring a naked cover image. However, the critical distinction lies in the context. Rainbow was released amidst the peak of her legal struggle with former producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald), whom she accused of sexual assault and other allegations he consistently denied. Despite the emotional rawness explored on Rainbow and subsequent releases, Kesha remained legally tied to Gottwald’s Kemosabe label.
The landscape shifted dramatically following the 2023 settlement and the expiration of her contract with Kemosabe shortly thereafter. Period is the first album released on Kesha’s own independent label, Kesha Records. This hard-won freedom underpins the album’s palpable sense of release. While her post-Rainbow work often mined the pain and complexity of her experiences for lyrical depth – a marked departure from the devil-may-care attitude of her debut era – Period largely signals a definitive break from that narrative focus.
Instead, the album fully immerses itself in the imagery and themes of her original wild child persona. This is the Kesha who famously sang about using whiskey as toothpaste. The lyrics across Period lean heavily into playful excess, sexual liberation, and a embrace of delightful disorder. Tracks feature explicit invitations like “take me to the sex shop” and calls for “bartender pour me up some damn fluid”. Lines such as “I like chaos, dripping head to toe” and “gimme gimme gimme all the boys” leave little room for interpretation. The dominant voice is one of reclaimed agency and unbridled fun.
A Notable Exception: “Cathedral”
Within this landscape of revelry, only the album’s closing piano ballad, “Cathedral,” seems directly connected to the difficult years she endured. Lyrically, it touches upon profound suffering and rebirth, with lines like “Life was so lethal … I died in the hell so I could start living again.” While occasional hints of past darkness surface elsewhere, suggesting a resilience earned through hardship (“I earned the right to be like this”), these moments are generally subsumed by the triumphant return to her signature style. It’s a compelling choice, suggesting that while the trauma is acknowledged, it doesn’t define the present artistic statement.
One can hardly fault Kesha for wanting to shed the label of being solely defined by her trauma. This album serves as a potent assertion that the core “Kesha” persona was fundamentally hers, not merely a construct influenced by her former producer. It’s a powerful act of reclaiming her narrative and artistic identity on her own terms.
A Timely Resurgence in the Pop Landscape
Interestingly, Kesha’s return to her “hot mess” roots feels remarkably current. When she first broke through in 2010, this persona was somewhat of an outlier in mainstream pop. Music critic Simon Reynolds noted the contrast between Kesha and contemporaries like Lady Gaga, viewing Gaga’s work as high-concept art-pop in the lineage of David Bowie, while positioning Kesha closer to the glam-rock antics of Alice Cooper.
Fast forward fifteen years, and the pop landscape has evolved. The success of artists like Charli xcx, particularly with her recent album Brat, highlights a contemporary appetite for pop that is raw, honest about flaws, and often depicts a “perpetually half-cut and lusty” state. Charli xcx’s frank lyrics about taste in partners, such as “God, I love a hopeless bastard,” resonate with the unfiltered nature of Kesha’s early work. Given this shift, Kesha could plausibly be considered a pioneering figure, a “godmother of Brat” in the current pop ecosystem. Her return, therefore, doesn’t feel like chasing a trend, but rather like a originator revisiting a style she helped popularize, now finding a potentially even more receptive audience.
Comparing her approach to artists like Self Esteem, whose album A Complicated Woman grapples with the pressures and self-doubt following success through introspective lyrics sometimes at odds with maximalist production, Kesha’s Period presents a seemingly simpler, more direct artistic statement. While Self Esteem uses ambiguity to reflect internal conflict, Kesha uses clarity to declare freedom and celebrate her core identity. Much like the Welsh post-hardcore band Mclusky found critical acclaim returning after a long hiatus, potentially benefiting from a changed musical climate more open to their sound, Kesha’s return leverages the cultural shift towards the kind of authentic, messy pop she championed years ago.
A Buffet of Sound: Musical Styles on Period
Beyond the lyrical themes, Period showcases a deliberate effort to re-establish Kesha within the diverse currents of contemporary pop music. The album presents a varied sonic palette, described accurately as a “buffet of current pop styles.”
Listeners will find synthy, 80s-inspired pop-rock that could easily fit within the repertoire of acts like Taylor Swift on tracks such as “Delusional” and “Too Hard.” The album also incorporates mid-tempo disco grooves on “Love Forever,” adding a touch of dancefloor-ready polish. Elements of hyperpop make an appearance, hinting at warp-speed sensibilities on “Boy Crazy,” while producer Hudson Mohawke contributes glitchy, Auto-Tune-heavy electro sounds to “Glow.”
Even a foray into vogue-ish country-pop on “Yippee-Ki-Yay” feels less like a calculated trend-hop and more grounded in Kesha’s past. She has explored country-adjacent sounds before, notably on her 2013 Pitbull collaboration “Timber” and her duet with Dolly Parton on Rainbow. This history lends authenticity to the genre exploration on Period. The album’s clear intention is a forceful re-entry into the pop mainstream, which perhaps explains the absence of the more distinctively weird or experimental edges found in a single like her 2023 track “Eat the Acid.” Only the final track, “Cathedral,” allows Kesha’s voice to truly unleash the full-throttle power heard previously, for instance, in her cover of T Rex’s “Children of the Revolution.”
Despite this focus on broader pop appeal, the songwriting throughout Period remains remarkably strong. The tracks are filled with clever twists, dynamic drops, and genuinely funny, self-referential lyrics. A standout line perfectly captures her status in the digital age: “You’re on TikTok / I’m the fucking OG.” This blend of sharp writing and catchy production suggests a collaborative effort behind the scenes, with contributions from a diverse group of artists and producers. The presence of collaborators ranging from Jonathan Wilson (known for working with Father John Misty) to Madison Love (whose credits include Blackpink) highlights the industry support rallying around Kesha for this release.
Ultimately, Kesha embodies her original “Kesha 1.0” persona on Period with effortless conviction. Despite the potentially “lurid lyrical excesses,” the performance never feels forced or like she’s trying too hard. It reads instead as a comfortable, powerful return to a role she didn’t just play, but originated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Kesha’s new album . (Period) considered a return to her early persona?
Kesha’s album Period is seen as a return to her early “hot mess” persona primarily because of its lyrical focus. After years of albums that explored her trauma and legal battles, this record largely shifts back to themes of partying, sexual freedom, chaos, and living life with an uninhibited attitude, mirroring the content of her debut era hits like “TiK ToK.” Only the closing track touches significantly on her past difficulties, making the rest of the album a clear thematic pivot.
What musical styles can listeners expect on Kesha’s album . (Period)?
Period features a diverse range of contemporary pop sounds, described as a “buffet.” The album includes synthy, 80s-influenced pop-rock, mid-tempo disco tracks, elements of hyperpop, glitchy electro sounds (produced by Hudson Mohawke), and even country-pop influences. This blend aims to position Kesha firmly within the modern pop landscape while allowing her to explore various sonic textures.
How does Kesha’s album . (Period) reflect her post-legal battle freedom?
The album reflects Kesha’s post-legal battle freedom both contextually and thematically. Following her settlement with Dr. Luke in 2023 and the expiration of her contract with his label, Kemosabe, Period is her first release on her own label, Kesha Records. Thematically, Kesha describes it as the first album where she felt truly free. This freedom is expressed through the album’s lyrical content, which deliberately moves away from focusing on past trauma and instead celebrates uninhibited self-expression, wildness, and fun, reclaiming the persona she originated.
Conclusion
Kesha’s album “. (Period)” is a compelling artistic statement and a powerful reclaiming of identity. Released on her own label after years of legal and professional constraints, the album feels undeniably like the product of an artist finally operating on her own terms. By revisiting and revitalizing the “hedonistic hot-mess” persona that first defined her, Kesha delivers an album that is smart, funny, musically diverse, and profoundly engaging. In a pop world increasingly embracing authenticity and controlled chaos, her return feels not just timely, but essential. Period is more than just an album; it’s a declaration of freedom, a celebration of resilience, and a joyous reminder of the unique, unfiltered energy Kesha brings to pop music.
