Kesha

Animal is the debut studio album by American pop singer Kesha. The album was released on January 1, 2010, by RCA Records. Kesha worked with a variety of producers and writers such as Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), Benny Blanco, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, and others. Kesha had been recording demos for several years when one eventually ended up in the hands of Samantha Cox, senior director of writer/publisher relations at BMI. Cox passed along the demo and it ended up in the hands of Gottwald, who decided to have Kesha perform on the song "Right Round". Within two months, the song became a hit in multiple countries around the world. The event led to Kesha being sought after by many major labels, and she eventually signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records.

Kesha’s third album, 2017’s Rainbow, came with more baggage than any pop album should be asked to carry. Her first project since her high-profile lawsuit against former collaborator Dr. Luke and its subsequent legal and label entanglements, it was heralded on arrival as a bold and cathartic statement of intent, but wasn’t necessarily the good-time dance-pop she’d made her name on. Three years later, the 15 cheeky, genre-hopping songs that make up High Road are about—and the results of—having a lot of that weight lifted. “I just tried to make it as low-pressure as possible because I feel like my whole career has been this race against time,” she tells Apple Music. “And on this album, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to make—exactly what genre, exactly what sound—and I wanted to not put a time on it and just see what would happen if I allowed that for myself.”