A lot has happened since Kesha Rose Sebert first appeared on Flo Rida’s club hit “Right Round” in 2009. After releasing her second dance-pop studio album Warrior in 2012, Kesha checked into rehab for an eating disorder, filed an abuse lawsuit against her producer Dr Luke, and was effectively prevented from releasing new solo music until Dr Luke’s contract with Sony’s Kemosabe imprint expired in March. (The high-profile campaign to #FreeKesha from the label was dealt a heavy blow in court last year.) It’s no surprise that Kesha’s long-awaited comeback anthem is a defiant emotional rollercoaster through deep depression and, ultimately, hope. “Praying” is Kesha’s first single in almost four years and will appear on her new album Rainbow, out via Kemosabe on August 11.
“This song is about coming to feel empathy for someone else even if they hurt you or scare you,” Kesha wrote in an essay for Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter today. “It’s a song about learning to be proud of the person you are even during low moments when you feel alone. It’s also about hoping everyone, even someone who hurt you, can heal.” She thanks her fans and her faith for allowing her to find strength during those darkest hours.
“There were so many days, months even, when I didn’t want to get out of bed,” Kesha writes. “I spent all day wanting to go to sleep, and then when I did fall asleep, I had horrible night terrors where I would physically cry and scream through the dark. I was never at peace, night or day. But I dragged myself out of bed and took my emotions to the studio and made art out of them. And I have never been happier with a body of work as I am with this record.”
The video for “Praying” was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who also worked on Lemonade, Beyoncé own story of spiritual rebirth. Rainbow will feature collaborations with Eagles of Death Metal and country queen Dolly Parton, who appears on a cover of her own song “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You.” Fun fact: Kesha’s mom, Patricia Rose Sebert, actually co-wrote the 1978 single for Joe Sun before it was made popular on Dolly’s 1980 album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. Talk about coming full circle. Check out Kesha’s new video — and showgirl-chic rainbow wardrobe — below.
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Text Hannah Ongley
Image via YouTube