Ke$ha - Warrior

As far as the popular backlash against current musical dirge goes, Ke$ha is probably the most prominent female recipient. Which is a little more than unfair when presented with Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Cheryl Cole, Marina and the Diamonds, Rihanna, Pixie Lott, Britney Spears and Cher Lloyd - all far inferior and more tasteless products. Of course it's easily understandable - Ke$ha is the glitteriest, the trashiest and the most drunk of them all - but credit where credit's due, her songwriting (and she does do it, which we can't say of at least 4 of the above) and ear for an untameable dance track is currently unmatched. On such a big stage, anyway.

So although she has a hilarious Tumblr dedicated to producing gifs of her music videos dubbed with quotes by Slovenian psychoanalytical critic Slavoj Žižek, and although there was that bump in the road over the whole ridiculous "kids were shot therefore 'Die Young' is a terrible message to hear, but let's go now to Pumped Up Kicks" radio debacle, the exploits and behaviour of Ke$ha are mere media tittle tattle, and honestly, her brand of pop music is more synonymous with the current pop heights of Robyn and Santigold than the list of talent vacuums above. Let's explore why.

We're introduced with static, whirrs and cars revving on the title track, a truly dirty and crunky kickstart to the party. "We're the ones who flirt with disaster!" Ke$ha spits, kicking up a fuss until your typical slightly-euphoric chorus builds and then crashes into another verse. It's not quite memorable enough to stick out, though, and that's much due to what's to follow. Step forward 'Die Young', the latest in a long line of joie de vivre anthems (coincidentally cowritten by fun.'s Nate Ruess, in what's sure to be a tedious continual stream of his presence): it's not so much the thudding evocation of drums or the persistent guitar-strum hook that makes this work, but Ke$ha's knack for a simultaneously narrative and persuasive lyric. "It's pretty obvious that you've got a crush; that magic in your pants is making me blush" sticks out as a funny take on promiscuity, when followed by a choir and the stomping drums of a '70s punk derivation. 'Die Young' would suffice in getting the party started, but it's followed immediately by the blissfully underdone 'C'Mon'; for me, the album's highlight. "Feeling like a sabretooth ti-GRR, sipping on a warm Budwei-ser" ensures it works on a soundbite level, but it's just the chorus' evocative driving-with-the-top-down feeling that makes it so uplifting. She occasionally errs though, and produces something a little too parodical of herself: see 'Crazy Kids' and its "we are we are, we are we are" and "we don't give a fuck"s. 

We all know already that Ke$ha is capable of a synthpop belter, so it's the album's deviations that make it the most interesting: 'Thinking of You' is loaded with grungish guitars and angry rhythmic kiss-offs ("I know I said I wouldn't talk about you publically but/ that was before I caught you lying and cheating on me, slut"; "suck my dick"). 'Wherever You Are' is certainly polished with the typical sheen (the verses sound a little like Katy Perry's Last Friday Night), but it's the occasional dips into disco with its melody that make it more Daft Punk than Nicki Minaj. The album's most immediate door-blower is that Iggy Pop collaboration, 'Dirty Love', 2 minutes and 44 seconds of sheer irreverence and jaw-dropping lyrics that hit you like a freight train. Whether my admiration of it is bourne out of incredulity or genuine awe I've yet to discover, and in all honesty it might take years to collect the debris. Really, though. "I just want your fucking filthy love". Her rock credentials are extended by the presence of Black Key Patrick Carney's drumming on the gooey country-pop ballad 'Wonderland'. Even two fifths of the Strokes (Julian and Fabrizio) pop up on the power-pop stormer 'Only Wanna Dance With You' (admittedly a little similar to their own Under Cover of Darkness). If you're not at least a little dissuaded of the opinion she's a popwhore with no awareness of music or herself, you're a cunt.

It's thus a little frustrating that she surrounds these with songs we'd come to expect of Ke$ha - 'Supernatural' is viciously peppered with 808s and glowstick-waving chorals that it makes arguing her worth as an artist a little akin to shouting to your friends on a club dancefloor. A lot of people I've spoken to dismiss 'All That Matters (The Beautiful Life)' as one of the fillers here, but as an example of her ability to let go and enjoy the moment, it's the most convincing. Repetitive to extinction, it just builds and builds and shakes you in demand of your attention. "I feel so alive!" she smiles, without a hint of irony. Sometimes it is just fun to lose yourself. "I'm sorry I'm just not sorry" she shrugs on the closer 'Love into the Light', a soaring take on Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight drum machine that gets a little evangelical and pensieve.

It does occur to me that I lament the likes of Pixie Lott and Rihanna and demand of them some sense of depth or craft, and what I'm effectively praising Ke$ha for is her ability to not care. But if this album's anything to go by, she clearly does: she's capable of emotional tributes to her early beginnings, and capable of singing (Wonderland), she's capable of surprising and delivering something new (Dirty Love) and, even if you still write her off as just another modern popstar, she's capable of writing the song that's going to be stuck in your head for weeks to come. And this is all without the tabloid rumours of which celebrity she's fucking, and without the nude photoshoots, and without the silly "characters" created by others to explain away selling out. Current pop consists of three undefeatable women in that respect: Beyonce, Lady GaGa and Ke$ha.

Rating: 8.5/10
Highlights: C'Mon, Only Wanna Dance With You, All That Matters (The Beautiful Life), Dirty Love, Die Young, Wonderland
Avoid: Crazy Kids, Warrior

Artwork Watch: Oh Ke$ha :(
Up next: Torres