Kesha. Photo by Vince Haycock
Kesha has revealed details of her fifth studio album. Gag Order will be released on May 19 and is executive produced by Rick Rubin. On April 28, the pop singer will share its first two singles, “Eat The Acid” and “Fine Line.”
Described in a press release as “post-pop,” Gag Order is billed by Kesha as a major internal reckoning. “Without the darkness there is no light. I finally let my darkness have the light,” the artist wrote in an album statement published on Nylon. “I cannot fight the truth of this life being difficult and painful. It is for everyone. An artist doesn’t exist to make others happy. I believe an artist gives voice, motion, color to the emotions we all have. The good emotions, and the unmanageably fucking miserable ones.”
Gag Order will be the third-full length released by Kesha since 2014, when she filed a lawsuit against Dr. Luke, producer and head of her label Kemosabe, accusing him of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Dr. Luke denied the allegations and countersued Kesha for defamation and breach of contract. A trial date in the defamation case is set for July 26 in New York.
Kesha is in the process of appealing two separate rulings. The first deemed Dr. Luke a private rather than public figure, which would only require Dr. Luke to prove that she acted with negligence rather than malice in her allegations. The second would prevent a retroactive application of the anti-SLAPP law amendments passed in 2020 that would allow Kesha to recoup legal fees from Dr. Luke in the event that she wins in the defamation case.
