Entertainment

Everything We Know About Kesha's New Album

by Alex Kritselis

Polarizing pop star Kesha released her last studio album, Warrior, in November 2012. It wasn’t as big of a commercial success as her debut, Animal, but it did score a worldwide hit with its lead single, “Die Young.” Additionally, the album received generally favorable reviews from critics. At the time, Kesha appeared to be in a good place. Now, however, the future of her music career seems a little uncertain. Following her stay in rehab for an eating disorder earlier this year, a problem that Kesha’s mother claimed was partially a result of mean comments made by Kesha’s frequent collaborator and mentor Lukasz Gottwald (a.k.a. Dr. Luke), Kesha’s been keeping a fairly low profile — and her fans have a lot of questions. Will Kesha continue to make music? When will her next album come out? Further, will Kesha continue to make music with Dr. Luke?

I can’t definitively answer all of these questions, but I can shed some light onto them. Let's get started.

Will Kesha continue to make music? The answer to that question, I think, is a resounding, “Yes!” Shortly after Kesha left rehab in March, she changed her Twitter handle from "keshasuxx" to "KeshaRose," dropped the infamous dollar sign from her name, and tweeted:

Additionally, Kesha told MTV during a recent interview:

I’ve been working on some music and it’s really fun and really different. That’s all that I want to give away. It, like, can borderline on trippy — a little different. I think people are going to trip out. Definitely not toned down, for sure not toned down.

In March, Kesha was even rumored to be working with EDM producer Zedd ("Clarity," “Stay the Night,” Lady Gaga’s “G.U.Y.”). It's safe to say that new music from Kesha is definitely in the works. So, when will fans get to hear it? Well, that’s another issue entirely.

When will Kesha’s next album come out? As far as we know, Kesha is still signed to Dr. Luke’s record label, Kemosabe Records. Given recent events, I imagine that Kesha’s relationship with Dr. Luke is complicated at the moment, to say the least. That could definitely affect her ability to release new music in the future.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

That being said, on Sunday, June 22, Kesha will make her debut as a judge on ABC’s new reality show singing competition, Rising Star (alongside fellow judges Brad Paisley and Ludacris, and host Josh Groban). Reality show gigs are the perfect time for artists to debut new music. Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban have all done it as judges on American Idol — why not Kesha? Not only do artists benefit from the weekly television exposure, the show also gives them the opportunity to perform their new material live. Though Kesha just finished up her stay in rehab in March, I think it’s possible that she could premiere new music during Rising Star’s run this summer. That’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?

Paul A. Hebert/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Finally, the toughest question of the bunch: Will Kesha continue to make music with Dr. Luke? I don't know. At this point, we just don’t have enough information about the situation to say one way or the other. If Dr. Luke really made those hurtful comments about Kesha’s weight as her mother claims, I think it would be very difficult for Kesha to feel comfortable working with him again. However, we don’t know the stipulations of Kesha's current recording contract.

In a rather illuminating October 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Kesha admitted that, sadly, she didn’t really have any creative control over her career. Taking into account the way that Kesha just described her new music — “really different” and “trippy” — I think it’s possible that that issue has been rectified. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

Trust me: no one's more anxious to hear new music from Kesha than I am! As soon as more details become available, we will absolutely let you know.