Rainbow - Kesha | Album Review

Kesha

Rainbow

Kemosabe • RCA

After 5 long years of legal battles and personal hardships Kesha has returned to the music scene stronger than ever. Rainbow, the third studio album from the artist, presents an organic feel and sound to Kesha's work like we have never seen before. The album centers around something Kesha has always been vocal about, self expression. The surprisingly slow opening track entitled "Bastards" is an acoustic rock driven song met with lyrics about not letting anyone bring you down, making the perfect opening track to this all around stunning album.

The next track "Let 'Em Talk" feat. Eagles of Death Metal was yet again a surprising track. Having seen Eagles of Death Metal, I was expecting a very hard rock track, but that is far what we got. The track feels very much like a Joan Jett track, and is probably the most forgettable track on the album, however the track is a great track. Track 3, "Woman" feat. The Dap-Kings Horns, is one of the most fun tracks on the album, and the politically driven lyrics about being a strong woman, while incorporating Kesha's signature f-bomb, add even more to the track. "Hymn" was released as the last promotional single from the album, and the song is great sonically and lyrically, but it is one of the weaker tracks from the album, and the worst of the four singles she released, there were multiple tracks that would've been better fit to be singles. However, lyrically I feel that this song stands out for a lot people, an anthem for people who don't follow typical societal standards. "Praying" is the best song on the album without a doubt, and is definitely the most vulnerable Kesha has ever been with her music, the heart-wrenching empowerment anthem is a moving piece and one of the year's best songs.

"Learn to Let Go" stands out to me, I love this track and it's one of my favorites from the album, and one of my favorite songs of this year, lyrically following the same concepts as the previous 5 tracks of living your life and not letting others bring you down is very prevalent in this song. "Finding You" reminds me a lot of a song Kesha released as a deluxe track with Warrior, "Past Lives", and has very similar lyrical concepts, her vocals stand out on this track, and it changes the tone of the album quickly, before going into the beautiful title track "Rainbow". "Rainbow" is probably my favorite track on the album, a song about not giving up is relatable for many and it adds so much to this masterpiece of a track. I feel title tracks should represent and embody what an album is about, and I feel "Rainbow" is exactly that. "Hunt You Down", "Boogie Feet" feat. Eagles of Death Metal, and "Boots" are the most rock-country driven tracks on the album. I love every single one of these tracks, I was a little worried I wasn't going to like "Boogie Feet" at first but it grew to become one of my favorite songs from the album. All three of these tracks feel like something you'd hear if Kesha made country music when she was making songs like "We R Who We R", the songs are very fun and not as serious as the previous tracks, but still feels genuinely Kesha.

"Old Flames (Can't Hold A Candle to You)" feat. Dolly Parton is one of the best tracks by far, the song is a cover of a song by the same name from Dolly Parton's 1980 album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. The remake featuring the original artist made for a genius track, from start to finish the song stands out, it is the only track that sounds like 80's country, not to mention Kesha's vocals met with Dolly's legendary vocals. "Godzilla" is the weakest track on the album, lyrically it is, once again, is a very early Kesha track, however I feel it doesn't feel fit the this album, I would have expected this more as a deluxe track. I feel that Kesha could've done more with it and chose to keep it tame. "Spaceships" wraps up Rainbow, the over 5-minute track closes one of the best albums of the year perfectly. This song embodies everything about Kesha, and felt right to end the album.

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