Ke$ha – Die Young
Famous for her global smash ‘Tik Tok’, her day-glo body paint and her spell check-defying name, Ke$ha is back. ‘Die Young’ is the first single from her forthcoming second album, the gladiatorially titled ‘Warrior’, set for release before the end of 2012. The track sees Ke$ha shifting gears from her more overtly hip-hop influenced beginnings to occupy a similar sonic space to Katy Perry. As such, ‘Die Young’ is a rousing anthem that encourages tearing it up as if we were about to shuffle off this mortal coil. Probably not the best medical advice for anyone suffering from a life-threatening illness, but it should at least make those last hours on Earth enjoyable.
If ‘Die Young’ is a departure from the sounds that made her name, the forthcoming album promises some even more surprising revelations. “Some people will be shocked. Some will also be excited to know that I don’t just do silly white-girl rap. I’m from the South, I have a lot of soul,” she told V Magazine. “But trust me – it’s not going to be some avant-garde jazz record. I innately write pop songs. That’s just what I do.” While that may be disappointing for the few people who occupy the Ke$ha/avant-garde jazz section of the musical Venn diagram, it’s probably good news for the rest of us.
This time around Ke$ha says she’s drawing inspiration from gnarlier sources such as Iggy Pop. We assume she means his more youthful incarnation rather than creaky, insurance-advertising human tree stump we have today. She’s also had her doors of perception prised open by collaborating with Flaming Lips frontman and professional glitter-doused space cadet Wayne Coyne. After she provided vocals for the band’s recent album, she even donated some of her blood, which Coyne poured over freshly pressed copies of the record in an entirely sane and not at all creepy act of promotion.
But perhaps most shocking of all, Ke$ha has even ditched her beloved auto-tune, at least on new album track ‘Dirty Love’. “I want to bring the edge and the rawness and the visceral energy of ’70s and ’80s punk rock,” she said. “It’s a throwback song. It’s all about how I don’t want your money, I don’t want a ring, I don’t wanna be your girlfriend, and I’m never going to be your wife. I just want your dirty love.” Sounds like a good deal.
