Kesha has released “Eat the Acid” and “Fine Line,” the first singles from her new album, Gag Order. Listen to the new songs below.
With candid lyrics speaking to Kesha’s difficult and public struggles (especially alluding to her ongoing legal battle with producer Dr. Luke), the singles paint an emotional portrait of the 36-year-old singer. “Eat the Acid” builds to a haunting climax with the lyrics: “You said don’t ever eat the acid/ If you don’t want to be changed like you changed me/ You said all the edges got so jagged/ Now everything you saw then can’t be unseen.”
Likewise, “Fine Line” grapples with the difficult recovery from pain and abuse. “Don’t be surprised if shit gets ugly,” Kesha sings, “All the doctors and lawyers that cut the tongue out of my mouth/ I’ve been hiding my anger, but bitch, look at me now/ I’m at the top of the mountain with a gun in my head/ Am I bigger than Jesus, or better off dead?”
Produced by Rick Rubin, the singles show off a new style from Kesha. In a statement accompanying the album announcement, she described the project as “post-pop,” explaining that “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 was first announced earlier this week and is set to arrive on May 19th, and pre-orders are ongoing. The singles were previously previewed on Instagram and mysteriously leaked on SoundCloud before they were taken down.
Combined with the album title, it all seems to be tied into the theme of alluding to Kesha’s unideal circumstance. The legal battle she launched against Dr. Luke in 2014 resulted in the court ruling that she must stay in their contract — all of her records during this time, including Gag Order, have been released under Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records.
Nonetheless, with Rubin by her side and with a new purpose instilled in her artistry, Gag Order is poised to be an interesting new entry in the Kesha saga. Check out the singles below.
