Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Kesha’s New Album, Rainbow, is a Seriously Fun Statement of Self-Empowerment

Kesha Press Image Spotify Event Promoting Album Rainbow Getty Images
Christopher Polk/Getty Images Image used with permission by copyright holder

Four and a half years on from her sophomore album, Kesha has released her third full-length studio LP, Rainbow. Filled with guest appearances—including the Eagles of Death Metal, The Dap-Kings’ horns, and Dolly Parton—it finds the pop star’s music freed from the boozy party girl image of “TiK ToK.”

Recommended Videos

Kesha’s new album leaps from danceable bangers to ballads and even to country, including a cover of “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You).” The specter of Kesha’s fraught lawsuit against former producer Dr. Luke, whom she has accused of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, hangs over Rainbow but never brings the album’s positive energy down.

In an album walk-through with NPR, she addresses album opener “Bastards,” saying, she “wrote that one because I don’t understand why people are so fucking mean to each other.” The song, a slow burner, is a dedication to self-empowerment and self-acceptance with its chorus “Don’t let the bastards get you down / Don’t let the assholes wear you out / Don’t let the mean girls take the crown / Don’t let the scumbags screw you ’round / Don’t let the bastards take you down.” Accepting and being yourself are major motifs on Rainbow and up show up in many songs across.

Kesha Press Image Spotify Event Promoting Album Rainbow Getty Images
Christopher Polk/Getty Images Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Let ‘Em Talk,” the album’s second song, expands on the theme. “It’s about those same bastards that try to bring you down,” Kesha offers, adding, “you can’t stop them from talking about you, so just let them talk and…dance through it and laugh about it.” Fittingly, the song is more energetic with the Eagles of Death Metal adding a gutsy, chugging guitar riff and backing vocals.

“Woman,” which follows and is no less energetic than “Let ‘Em Talk,” incorporates an element of contemporary soul music with The Dap-Kings’ horn section making a guest appearance along with Saundra Williams (of Saun and Starr and the late Sharon Jones’ Dapettes). It is the most assertive of these early tracks, though also the most playful, with Kesha and her producers bursting into laughter at multiple points in the song.

Other highlights include lead single “Praying” (produced by Ryan Lewis), the twangy and tongue-in-cheek “Hunt You Down” (featuring the crude but flawlessly delivered couplet “If you fuck around / Boy, I’ll hunt you down”), and “Boogie Feet,” which finds the Eagles of Death Metal making a second appearance.

Kesha’s new album, Rainbow, is out now through Kemosabe and RCA and is available through Amazon, iTunes, and Kesha’s official store.

Terence Praet
Terence Praet contributes to The Manual’s New Music Monday column. He studied Philosophy and History at Skidmore College…
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more
The NBA’s ultimate celebration tool: The victory cigar
A look at the players and coaches who smoke to celebrate
Jordan smoking a cigar image on a bag

Sports are synonymous with celebration. After winning the biggest trophy of their lives, athletes want to indulge in the payoff that comes with seeing their dreams realized. Teams go into the locker room, where a waterfall of champagne hits them in the eyes, and swimming goggles seem to be a requirement, lest you walk around on the best night of your life half blind. While drinking is often the activity of choice after winning a championship, the NBA has an alternative symbol of greatness that other sports don't use nearly enough: the victory cigar.

Basketball is a team game, but it's also an individual canvas for solo superstardom. After winning an NBA championship, the coaches and players who sit atop the throne have long smoked a cigar in the locker room, during the parade, or even on the bench before the clock has hit zero. There's nothing quite like a good stogie to signify the ultimate win over the rest of the league, but how did the victory cigar get so ingrained in NBA championship celebrations? We want to take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the historical moments and people who made the cigar what it is within the NBA today.
Red Auerbach's victory cigar on the bench
Red Auerbach: The Story Behind the Victory Cigar + His Disdain of NBA Officials - Red on Roundball

Read more
The best medical shows of all time to binge now
From ER to The Pitt, these are the best medical shows ever made
Noah Wyle in the Pitt

Throughout TV's long history, the medical drama has occupied a somewhat unique place in the landscape. Medical shows are often some of the most reliable on TV precisely because there's so much drama built in to working in a hospital.

Personally, I've found the medical drama to be deeply comforting for years, even if I have no desire to be a doctor myself. Understanding the stress of people in the healthcare profession is fascinating in and of itself.

Read more