Performer Notes

Recording information: Elysian Park, Los Angeles, CA; Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, FL; House Of Blues Studios, Nashville, TN; MV Bliss, Antibes, France; NRG Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Purple Dinosour Studios; Scotch Cornet Studios, Glendale, CA; Sound Emporium Studios, Nashville, TN; Southern Ground, Nashville, TN; The Green Building, Santa Monica, CA; The Village Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Westlake Studios, Park, Los Angeles, CA.
A rainbow is a beautiful trick of the light that arises after a thunderstorm, a fact that is not lost on Kesha, who experienced more than her share of tumult after her second album, 2012's Warrior. Two years after its release, the singer/songwriter filed a lawsuit against her producer and collaborator Dr. Luke, alleging emotional and sexual abuse, and he returned the volley with countersuits. Kesha's career crawled to a halt during the ensuing legal battles, and while they had not been resolved by the time she released Rainbow in August of 2017, the involved parties reached a dtente to allow the album's appearance. Given how all her problems were laid bare in public, it's no surprise that Kesha opens Rainbow by singing "Don't let the bastards get you down/Don't let the a******* wear you out," a none-too-subtle allusion to her trials and tribulations. It's a theme that she returns to throughout Rainbow, framing it as a lament, an anthem of defiance and ultimately inspiration. As she sings on "Learn to Let Go" -- a song whose title is key to the whole record -- "the past can't haunt me if I don't let it," and if that lyric smacks of self-help, it's also true Kesha doesn't seem haunted by days gone by on Rainbow. Even when she's hinting at her pain, she's not wallowing in it: the whole point of the album is that she's found a path toward peace. Kesha's newfound serenity is underscored by how she still finds plenty of space to cut loose on Rainbow, cranking out a pair of metallic glam-rockers with Eagles of Death Metal, pouring glitter on Johnny Cash ("Hunt You Down"), pushing the neon pulse of "Boots," and even indulging in a bit of twee folk on "Godzilla." Still, the heart of Rainbow lies in its stirring ballads, and while these odes to self-empowerment are endemic to 2010s pop, Kesha's emotions feel earned not because we know her backstory but because her songs are specific, not generic. Sometimes she'll slide into clich, usually by recycling therapy-speak, but how she pairs these credos with veiled confessions is as striking and moving as her party songs are weird and funny. By slyly alternating between these two extremes throughout Rainbow, Kesha winds up with a comeback that's fully realized emotionally and musically. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - "[T]he best music of her career....In the process, she also finds her own voice: a freshly empowered, fearlessly feminist Top 40 rebel."

Spin - "RAINBOW is a document of Kesha coming into her own, blossoming into the artist she's always truly wanted to become....It's a triumph of songwriting as well as will."

Entertainment Weekly - "RAINBOW, her rich, masterful third LP, is far more than a kiss-off to old demons -- it's an artistic feat, as Kesha unites stylistic forays with her sharp, weathered lyricism." -- Grade: A-

NME (Magazine) - "[B]luegrass and gospel-inspired closer `Spaceship' is perhaps the most powerful track here -- a contemplative trad finger-picker that sees Kesha waiting to be rescued by a bloody great big UFO and taken somewhere far, far away."

Paste (magazine) - "[W]here Kesha shines the most is when she goes back to her Nashville roots, finally putting out the country-tinged tracks that she should have been releasing all along....We get the most authentic Kesha album yet, and it's a triumph."

Album: Rainbow
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Bastards	More Info...
2)	Let 'Em Talk (Feat. Eagles of Death Metal)	More Info...
3)	Woman (Feat. The Dap-Kings Horns)	More Info...
4)	Hymn	More Info...
5)	Praying	More Info...
6)	Learn to Let Go	More Info...
7)	Finding You	More Info...
8)	Rainbow	More Info...
9)	Hunt You Down	More Info...
10)	Boogie Feet (Feat. Eagles of Death Metal)	More Info...
11)	Boots	More Info...
12)	Old Flames (Can't Hold a Candle to You) [feat. Dolly Parton]	More Info...
13)	Godzilla	More Info...
14)	Spaceship	More Info...

Album: Rainbow
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Bastards	More Info...
2)	Let 'Em Talk (Feat. Eagles of Death Metal)	More Info...
3)	Woman (Feat. The Dap-Kings Horns)	More Info...
4)	Hymn	More Info...
5)	Praying	More Info...
6)	Learn to Let Go	More Info...
7)	Finding You	More Info...
8)	Rainbow	More Info...
9)	Hunt You Down	More Info...
10)	Boogie Feet (Feat. Eagles of Death Metal)	More Info...
11)	Boots	More Info...
12)	Old Flames (Can't Hold a Candle to You) [feat. Dolly Parton]	More Info...
13)	Godzilla	More Info...
14)	Spaceship	More Info...