Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen
The INSIDER Summary:
• A reporter got to hear some of Kesha's unreleased music.
• The four songs are said to be amazing — but we might never hear them.
For years, Kesha has been embroiled in a legal battle with Dr. Luke, her producer, who she says sexually abused her. Sony Music Entertainment, the parent company of Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records, also hasn't released any of Kesha's music, trapping her in her recording contract for the past four years.
But Kesha's still busy making hits. Earlier this year, her lawyer said that she wrote and recorded 28 songs at her own expense and sent them to her record label.
But we might never hear them. Kemosabe hasn't done anything with the songs, leaving Kesha stuck.
In a new profile of the musican in The New York Times magazine, Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes that she was able to listen to four of Kesha's new songs: "Hunt You Down," "Learn to Let It Go," "Rosé," and one that she says "will be your favorite Kesha song" titled "Rainbow."
Brodesser-Akner says that Kesha wrote the first draft of "Rainbow" while she was still in rehab in 2014, and she eventually finished it with the legendary producer Ben Folds in just two takes.
"It’s big and sweeping, and you can hear every instrument that Ben Folds and his associates played — it does recall a Beach Boys vibe, just as she wanted it to. And as Folds said, the way she sings the song is so rich and so real that it jerks you out of your expectation of a pop song. 'I found a rainbow, rainbow, baby,' she sings. 'Trust me, I know life is scary, but just put those colors on, girl, and come and paint the world with me tonight.' In the final section, her voice becomes stronger and more strained, and the effect is devastating. I asked to hear it three more times."
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global CitizenThe other songs sound equally worthy of radio play. "Hunt You Down" sounds more like a country song than a traditional pop song, Brodesser-Akner wrote, which is a vibe that Kesha has been cultivating in her live shows. "Learn to Let it Go" sounds "like something you’d hear in heavy rotation on radio with Kesha’s beautiful, low voice singing that a happy ending is up to you." And "Rosé" is "a toast to an old boyfriend who has married."
The songs seem more nuanced, accomplished, and complicated than some of Kesha's older music, which is just what she intended. But unfortunately, unless Sony and Kemosabe allow the songs to be released, all we have may be Brodesser-Akner's descriptions of them.
You can read the full profile on the singer and her music over at The New York Times.
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