High Road (Kesha album)

After the release of Rainbow, her third studio album, Kesha issued a new single titled "Rich, White, Straight Men" in June 2019. It was initially uploaded onto her YouTube account on June 2 without prior announcement and was made available in online music stores and streaming platforms six days later. In September 2019, Billboard published a cover story about the singer, in which she announced that her fourth studio album was in development and would be released in following December. Whilst discussing the lyrics of the album, Kesha commented that it would emphasize "the happiness that I began my career with", although "more earned and healthier than ever". Musically, it would define a "full return to Kesha's pop roots, after leaning into a more country–soul sound" in Rainbow. Kesha worked with some previous partners, such as Wrabel, Nate Ruess, Justin Tranter, and her mother Pebe Sebert, as well as new collaborators, including Tayla Parx, and Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons. The record's release date was postponed to January 10 and later to January 31, 2020. On the eve of the album's street date, Kesha revealed via Twitter that she had finalized a song titled "Summer" five days earlier. It was included as the closing track on digital versions of High Road. The image for the album were created by Brian Roettinger, a graphic designer who has worked with Jay Z, Childish Gambino and Florence and the Machine. Roetting explained that the melting candle represented that "nothing is permanent" as well as harkening to Kesha's exploration of themes of "joy" found in her earlier work. Kesha also sold the replicas of candle as merchandise for the album. Roettinger also served as the art director for the album and corresponding tour. Roettinger also used the motif of melting wax for Kesha's performance at the American Music Awards. == Composition ==

Music and lyrics Musically, High Road has been described as a "full-blown" electro-country, record, utilizing musical and vocal characteristics of other music genres, such as hip hop, In the early stages of the album, Kesha's brother suggested that she make uptempo songs as in the past, but she rejected the idea because she didn't want to meet the audience's expectations. electropop composition. It begins as an "emotive" piano-driven ballad followed by a hip hop- and EDM-influenced breakdown with a "low-riding bassline" and a "buzzed beat" which "finds her speaking her mind and making it clear that she's not going to dance for you because she's here to dance for herself". EDM, country, it features beat drops accompanied by "soaring synth beats", gospel choirs, handclaps, a church organ, horns, and a post-chorus by Freedia. In the title track, Kesha makes fun of people "who think she's too much of an airhead to write hits or even spell her own name". The soul-influenced sixth track, "Honey", is built upon a guitar riff and lyrically debates a "man-stealing ex-friend" "Cowboy Blues" lyrically analyzes "the ways in which loneliness can cloud one's instincts" It features guest appearances by Brian Wilson, Sturgill Simpson, and Wrabel. The dream pop number "BFF" also features Wrabel, who is Kesha's long-time friend, and lyrically depicts their friendship. and described as a "rather thought provoking, enjoyable pop track". == Promotion and singles ==

In October 2019, to update her public on new releases, Kesha launched a hotline which featured a snippet of an upcoming song. Later that month the singer released a trailer to announce High Road release. "Raising Hell" was released as the album's lead single on October 24, 2019, alongside its music video, which was directed by Luke Gilford. Kesha and Freedia performed the song for the first time on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 28. On November 21, 2019, "My Own Dance" was issued as the follow-up single. A music video directed by Allie Avital premiered the same day. The song was sent to Australian contemporary hit radio stations in the following day. On November 24, 2019, at the 47th ceremony of the American Music Awards, Kesha performed "Raising Hell" and "Tik Tok". "Resentment" was sent to Australian contemporary hit radio stations as the album's third single on December 13, 2019, followed by "Tonight" as the fourth on January 31, 2020. A music video for "Resentment" was shot with Kesha's personal iPhone and released on December 12. Kesha and Freedia performed "Raising Hell" on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on January 10. Acoustic versions of "Raising Hell" and "Resentment" were released on January 29. The following day, she performed "Resentment" alongside Wrabel on The Late Late Show with James Corden. On February 3, a music video for the album's title track was released. On February 10, Kesha performed "Tonight" during the Live with Kelly and Ryan after-Oscars show. On April 17, she performed "Resentment" during the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon via a live streaming from her house. On April 26, 2020, she appeared in GLAAD's event Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone, which will raise funds for LGBT-related organizations associated with CenterLink. On August 4, 2020, a video for "Little Bit of Love", directed by Kesha and Jonah Best premiered on MTV Live and MTVU as well as on Kesha's Vevo channel. An acoustic performance "Kinky" was uploaded to Kesha's official YouTube account on October 24, 2020. Touring In January 2020, Kesha announced the High Road Tour, with Freedia joining her as an opening act. The first concert was scheduled to take place on April 23 in Sugar Land, Texas. The tour was initially postponed to late 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 31, but then it was officially cancelled on May 1. Cancelled dates The June 27, 2020 show is part of the Soundtrack Music Festival. == Commercial performance ==

On February 9, 2020, High Road debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 albums chart with 45,000 album-equivalent units consumed, of which 35,000 were pure album sales, making it Kesha's fourth US top-ten album. == Critical reception ==

High Road received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. The union of the personas approached by Kesha throughout her career, which occurs musically and lyrically on the album, received polarizing responses, with some critics praising the artist's uniqueness, while others pointed out a false personality construction. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 73 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ==Track listing==

}} Notes • signifies an additional producer • signifies a vocal producer == Credits and personnel ==

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes, and organized in alphabetical order by surname. Vocals • Kesha – lead vocals , backing vocals • Michael Allen – backing vocals • Jeff Bhasker – backing vocals • Ajay Bhattacharya – backing vocals • Tanisha Brooks – backing vocals • Hayley Chilton – backing vocals • Stuart Crichton – backing vocals • Chelcee Grimes – backing vocals • Chelsea Gillis – backing vocals • Josie Howell – backing vocals • Matt Jardine – backing vocals • Eric Leva – backing vocals • James Newman – backing vocals • Tayla Parx – backing vocals • Nate Ruess – backing vocals • Louis Schoorl – backing vocals • Pebe Sebert – backing vocals • Sturgill Simpson – featured vocals • Graynor Strand – backing vocals • Maelu Strange – backing vocals • Leeza Tierney – backing vocals • Brian Wilson – featured vocals • Stephen Wrabel – backing vocals , featured vocals Instrumentation • Brianna Atwell – viola • Samantha Boshnack – trumpet • Jeff Bhasker – keyboards • Ajay Bhattacharyya – bass , drums , guitar , piano , synthesizer , horn , keyboards • Rebecca Chung Filice – cello • Jason Cressey – trombone • Stuart Crichton – bass , keyboards , guitar • Madi Diaz – guitar • Wojtek Goral – alto saxophone • Chelcee Grimes – guitar • John Hill – drums , guitar , keyboards • Magnus Johansson – fluegelhorn , trumpet • Peter Noos Johansson – trombone , tuba • Tomas Johnsson – baritone saxophone • Greg Kramer – trombone • Eric Leva – ukulele • Seth May-Patterson – viola • Rachel Nesvig – violin • Ahameful Oluo – trumpet • Omega – drums , organ • Hunter Perrin – guitar • Josh Rawlings – piano • Maria Scherer Wilson – cello • Louis Schoorl – bass, drums, guitar, piano • Jesse Siebenberg – guitar • The Swedish Brass Mafia – brass Production • Jeff Bhasker – production • Rob Cohen – vocal production • Stuart Crichton – production • Daramola – additional production • John Hill – production • Kesha – production • Ryan Lewis – production • Blake Mares – vocal production • Skylar Mones – additional production • Omega – production • Drew Pearson – production • Louis Schoorl – production • Stint – production • Tainy – additional production • Brian Wilson – vocal production Technical • Jeff Bhasker – programming • Ajay Bhattacharyya – programming • Dale Becker – mastering • Matias Byland – programming • Jon Castelli – mixing • Rob Cohen – engineering • Stuart Crichton – engineering and programming • Josh Deguzman – engineering • Scott Desmarais – assistant engineering • Anthony Dolhai – engineering • Matt Dyson – engineering • Isaiah Gage – string arrangement • Chris Galland – engineering • John Hill – programming • Stephen Hogan – engineering • Jeremie Inhaber – assistant engineering • Andrew Joslyn – string arrangement • Blake Mares – engineering • Manny Marroquin – mixing • Johnny Morgan – assistant engineering • Drew Pearson – engineering • Nick Rowe – engineering and vocal engineering • Louis Schoorl – programming • Wesley Seidman – vocal engineering • Matt Tuggle – engineering • Omega – programming • Hector Vega – assistant engineering Design • Samantha Burkhart – styling • Benjamin Lowy – photography • Vittorio Masecchia – makeup artist, hair stylist • Samantha Rhodes – assisting styling • Brian Roettinger – creative direction, photography == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Release history ==