For her new single “Die Young,” Ke$ha taps back into the speak-singing power that launched her first big hit “Tik Tok,” but some of the hungover trash-talking specificity of that old track is missing here.
The singer and songwriter now has both feet into the dance-pop tropes, as she hits the dance floor, ode-ing your heartbeat; however, I do applaud the superiority of verse 2, particularly the rhyming scheme “Young hunks, taking shots / Stripping down to dirty socks.” ‘Cause you know that ish actually happened at some point in Ke$ha’s time on this earth — if not every day — and Lord knows the term “hunk” is vastly underused into today’s common vernacular.
The late-night cable access vibe of the lyric video released today doesn’t do much about “That magic in your pants,” but there’s some ghostly shots of der Ke$ha riding the subway with her raccoon eyes and penchant for trouble, with a hint of Tokyo futurism. The violent colors indicate another endeavor into the ’80s neon fever-dream that dominated her stylistically aggressive “Cannibal.”
I walked away from the tune for about half hour, and still had it stuck in my head making toast. The chorus and snare in particular sticks, and is going to do really well if she keeps turning up to awards shows. See you at the AMAs, K, stick it to “Live While You’re Young,” “Forever Young” and “We Are Young.”
“Die Young” is off of Ke$ha’s next album, “Warrior,” out on Dec. 4. It’s available for pre-order now.