FEATURE:
Second Spin
Ke$ha - Animal
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A debut album can be hard to get right…
especially when there is a lot of build-up and hype around the artist. In the case of the L.A.-born artist, Ke$ha, her debut was very underrated. I feel quite a few reviews were a bit harsh. Since she released Animal in 2010, I feel her work has got even stronger and received wider critical acclaim – 2020’s High Road might be her best work to date. I feel Animal received some unfair mixed reviews. There were a few that were positive. Before bringing in a couple of reviews, it is worth providing some backdrop to Ke$ha’s debut:
“Animal is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Kesha. The album was released on January 1, 2010, through RCA Records and distributed through Sony Music Entertainment. Kesha worked on the album with a variety of record producers and songwriters such as Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin and others. Kesha had been recording demos for several years when one eventually ended up in the hands of Samantha Cox, senior director of writer/publisher relations at BMI. Cox passed along the demo and it ended up in the hands of Gottwald, who decided to have Kesha perform on the song "Right Round" with American rapper Flo Rida. Within two months, the song became a hit in multiple countries around the world. The event led to Kesha being sought after by many major labels, and she eventually signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records”.
I really like Animal and I think that it warrants new inspection. Take It Off is a big and memorable highlight from the album. I feel Tik Tok is the big song. In a feature from 2019, i-D looked back on a hugely important debut single:
“Nothing defines a moment in time like pop music. We return to songs a year or 10 later, and are transported to the time when we couldn’t stop listening to it. For a drab, drawn-out autumn in 2009, there was almost nothing on the radio bar a song about DGAF drunken hedonism that caused 14-year-old me to dance around a sweaty, satellite town living room on a Saturday night like I was in a run-down nightclub on the Sunset Strip. That song was Kesha’s "TiK ToK", and it pulled the rug from underneath pop’s feet.
When that song first debuted a whole decade ago (it hit radio on 7 August 2009), a year had passed since Lady Gaga arrived on the pop scene. And in many ways it was Gaga’s otherness that helped the off-kilter format of a non-glossy popstar like Kesha push through the cracks. Giving the middle finger to the possibility of backlash, the then 22-year-old embraced her most odd-ball behaviours, and hammed them up as a way of playing with the thirsty tabloid media. Rumours swirled that she didn’t shower (she actually showered four times a day) and that she was born with a tail. And let’s not forget the time she drank her own pee on TV. With Kesha in it, pop music was glorious and gross and everything we’d been taught it wasn’t supposed to be. "TiK ToK" was the anthem we were long searching for. It spent nine weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, and has since sold over 18 million copies.
The nursery rhyme rap-pop flow of its lyrics were earworm excellence; the sound of ‘Wake up in the morning feelin’ like P Diddy’ over synths can still make a nightclub crowd go wild. The basic, bit-pop production was ragged and yet, in its imperfections, sort of flawless. It was one of those songs that was so simple that it was a miracle no one had made it before; proof that the greasy and glittered Kesha was one of the most exciting pop performers of her time. The chaotic, DGAF energy of "TiK ToK" spread like wildfire”.
I am keen to bring in a couple of reviews for Animal. Just before, there is an interview from Seventeen that I wanted to mention. Published in 2010, they met a promising Pop artist who was about to deliver a huge album - Animal became the tenth best-selling album in the United States of 2010, selling 1.14 million copies that year:
“17: Why is your record called Animal?
K$: I've done research on animals because I'm a diver, and I used to wear gold bikinis and had eye piercings and stuff, and then I almost got eaten by a barracuda once, and I was like "Why does he keep chasing me? Why does he want to eat me?" And then I was researching and found out that animals are really attracted to shiny things, especially gold and silver, so I feel like if I cover my body and the audience with glitter then they'll like it.
17: What glitter do you use?
K$: I love MAC glitter — it's just unreal!
17: How do you describe your style?
K$: Garbage can chic? I like vintage a lot. I like not trying — I think girls need someone to look up to who's not in high heels and a push-up bra. I can't walk in high heels, never mind dance in them. I think it's all about your confidence and having positive energy”.
In terms of the reviews, there was this blend of those who appreciated the strength of the album and the fact that Animal barely misses a step. There were those who were not so enamoured of it. In their review, this is what AllMusic offered:
“Just when it seemed 2009’s trash-brat electro scene (3OH!3, LMFAO, Shwayze) was about crumble under its own weight, rapper/singer/songwriter Ke$ha became the genre’s biggest star, graduating from being Flo Rida’s backup singer (she provided the hook on the rapper’s massive single “Right Round”) to superstar when her debut single, “TiK ToK,” set a digital sales record with over 600,000 downloads in a week. Her climb to the top includes bizarre factoids like she once lived in the house where the Eagles recorded Hotel California, plus she once vomited in Paris Hilton’s closet. Working on Hilton's album was the reason she was at the house, so it’s hard not to appreciate how Animal makes Ke$ha sound nothing like an industry vet who used to write for the Veronicas. Here, she’s a gum-snapping, alcohol-abusing Facebook jockey straight out of the suburbs who spits sophomoric but fun putdowns, come-ons, and sig files all over electro beats. Opening with “Maybe I need some rehab/Or maybe just need some sleep,” Animal is upfront about its unwillingness to face the real world, and prefers a garbage chic reality with a liberal shot of the ‘80s.
“Party at a Rich Dude’s House” could have fallen off the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack, while the word “gross” makes a serious comeback throughout the album. The music is heavy on gimmicks -- Auto-Tune, vocoders, and silly samples are all here in abundance -- while able folks like Dr. Luke plus Mim and Liv Nervo are in charge of the colorful electro-pop productions. As far as subversion goes, “Boots and Boys” presents the lusty, “Suicide Blond”-type track from a rare female point of view, but a couple of unexpected and completely unsatisfying ballads are the type of fluff anyone with an edge would avoid. Snooty taste makers and parents should avoid Animal at all costs, but with so many fun, “TiK ToK”-type tracks, the album has plenty for both brats and the bratty at heart”.
To contrast AllMusic’s review, Entertainment Weekly were more positive in their assessment. They were hooked and affected by the energy of the album and how it definitely gets in the head:
”Take It Off,” ”Hungover,” ”Party at a Rich Dude?s House”: In a dance-pop scene with no use for subtlety, Ke$ha may be the most brazen of all. Fortunately, she’s got ”I Kissed a Girl” producer Dr. Luke, who featured her on Flo Rida’s ”Right Round” and worked with her on the hit ”TiK ToK” off of her album Animal. Here he frames her Valley Girl sneer with electro-glam arrangements that make brushing one’s teeth ”with a bottle of Jack” sound like an awesome way to kill the morning-after blues”.
I feel Ke$ha’s debut album was overlooked by many. Although there are a couple of songs that are not instantly memorable, there is plenty of personality and punch. Unlike a few Pop albums from 2010, Animal stands up to multiple listens. You will find yourself hooked to many of the songs. I would recommend people check out Ke$ha’s debut, as Animal provides fresh layers…
THE more you listen.