It's called
Gag Order because
Kesha feels she's been restricted in her speech due to her ongoing litigation with her former producer
Dr. Luke. Those lawsuits prevented her from speaking directly about the events at the root of her personal trauma, so she winds up writing around the problem on the album, focusing on the emotional aftermath instead of the instigating events. Given the anger and sadness roiling in her psyche -- feelings only intensified during the isolation of COVID-19, a pandemic that hit just weeks after she delivered
High Road in 2020 -- it's not surprising that
Gag Order is a twisted ball of fury and sorrow. Her inner turmoil is conveyed through washes of electronics, contorted Auto-Tunes, spectral samples, and a keening performance from
Kesha, whose passion cuts against the dour atmosphere. That's by design: the amorphous swirl captures torment, the singing suggests perseverance. These are the qualities that sustain
Gag Order, carrying it through 13 tracks so tightly intertwined it's difficult to tell where one begins or ends; it's as much a complete body of work as
Paul Simon's concurrently released
Seven Psalms. All that torment and atmosphere amounts to a journey lacking such expected signifiers as hooks or even melody.
Gag Order discards these pop niceties because it's designed as a purge, one that delivers catharsis for the artist without much consideration for the audience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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