Maps of Music

High Road (2020)

Where the lyrics of High Road take you, and where it was really made.

The cover image is a melting candle made from a 3D scan of Kesha's own head.

Key places

Recording credit in Antibes (2020)

Recording site MV Bliss — Listed as a recording location for High Road. The dot sits at the city centre of Antibes, not at the exact spot. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording credit in Sherman Oaks (2020)

Recording site Record One — Listed as a recording location for High Road. The dot marks the city centre of Sherman Oaks, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording and engineering at The Village (2020)

Recording site Village Recorders — Listed as a recording location for High Road, with an engineering credit at The Village in Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• High Road: fourth studio album by Kesha
• Released January 31, 2020 through RCA and Kemosabe Records
• Kesha served as sole executive producer again, after Rainbow (2017)
• Main styles are pop, country and classic rock
• Other genres include dance-pop, folk, synthpop, trip hop, EDM, trap and gospel
• Standard edition has 15 tracks; the digital-only track Summer closes digital versions
• Cover: melting candle made from a 3D scan of Kesha's head

Background

• Follows Rainbow, Kesha's third studio album
• Kesha issued the single Rich, White, Straight Men in June 2019
• Album announced in late 2019 with a December 2019 target
• Release postponed to January 10, then moved to January 31, 2020
• Kesha worked with past partners Wrabel, Nate Ruess, Justin Tranter and her mother Pebe Sebert
• New collaborators included Tayla Parx and Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons
• Musically a full return to Kesha's pop roots after the country-soul sound of Rainbow

Recording

• Recording credited at MV Bliss Moored (Antibes, France)
• Recording credited at Scotch Corner (Sherman Oaks, California)
• Recording credited at The Village, Los Angeles; mixing credited at Larrabee Sound Studios, Los Angeles

Cover

• Artwork by Brian Roettinger, a graphic designer who has worked with Jay Z, Childish Gambino and Florence and the Machine
• Roettinger also served as art director for the album and the corresponding tour
• Roettinger said the melting candle means that nothing is permanent

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kesha Rose Sebert, born March 1, 1987, in Los Angeles; stylized Ke$ha until 2014.
• Signed to music publishing company Prescription Songs in 2005 at age 18.
• Signed with David Sonenberg's DAS Communications in 2006.
• Her 2009 debut single "Tik Tok" came after she signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records.

Career

• Kesha's breakthrough came with "Right Round" (2009) as a featured artist for Flo Rida, though she is uncredited on the US release.
• Her debut album Animal (2010) reached number one on the US Billboard 200; the single "Tik Tok" sold about 14 million copies worldwide.
• Her second album Warrior (2012) was released on November 30, 2012, and its single "Die Young" peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Her third album Rainbow (2017) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• Her fourth album High Road was released January 31, 2020.
• Her fifth album Gag Order was released May 19, 2023, produced by Rick Rubin.
• Her sixth album Period was released July 4, 2025.
• Kesha's legal dispute with producer Dr. Luke, filed in 2014, was settled out of court in June 2023.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critical reception was mostly positive, though the revived party persona divided critics
• Metacritic average: 73 out of 100, based on 19 reviews
• The Independent (Adam White) praised the singer's maturity and confidence
• The A.V. Club (Annie Zaleski) praised musical diversity and lyrical and emotional depth
• Slant (Sal Cinquemani) praised the sentimental approach but called it Kesha's least consistent album
• Clash (Nick Lowe) said the album does not sound forced despite its versatility
• Rolling Stone (Rob Sheffield) praised Kesha's return to her party persona
• Pitchfork (Megan Buerger) called it a setback after Rainbow, feeling strained and scattershot
• PopMatters (Nick Malone) discredited the attempt to unite her varied sounds

Reappraisal

• Included on Rolling Stone and American Songwriter lists of the best albums of 2020 so far, June 2020
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine) and The Irish Times (Louise Bruton) particularly praised My Own Dance and Kesha's lyrical duplicity

Records

• US Billboard 200 debut: number 7 with 45,000 album-equivalent units, 35,000 of them pure sales
• Kesha's fourth US top-ten album
• Four singles: Raising Hell (featuring Big Freedia), My Own Dance, Resentment, Tonight
• Raising Hell peaked at number 5 on Billboard Dance Club Songs and number 17 on Bubbling Under Hot 100

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Kesha revealed via Twitter that she had finalized a song titled Summer five days before the album's street date
• Kesha's brother suggested uptempo songs like her earlier work, but she rejected the idea
• Replicas of the candle were sold as album merchandise
• Roettinger used the melting wax motif again for Kesha's American Music Awards performance
• Kesha and Big Freedia performed Raising Hell on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 28, 2019
• The High Road Tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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