MUSIC
Mhysa’s Spin on Black Music
“Queer Black Diva” is a resister and a soother
BY STEVE ERICKSON
On their second studio album “Nevaeh,”
Mhysa relies on themself. The
alter ego of multimedia artist E. Jane,
their fi rst album “Fantasii” took inspiration
from Dante’s “Inferno” but imagined
it as an ascent in a positive direction. Mhysa
is a character, “a Queer Black Diva and underground
popstar for the cyber resistance.” Jane’s
project SCRAAATCH embraced noise, but Mhysa
mixes those infl uences with the female R&B
singers to whom they paid tribute in the 2017
exhibit “Lavendra.” Mhysa said that their “primary
material is the Black woman’s voice (including
my own.)” “Nevaeh” strips down their
sound even further. It stands somewhere between
the fragmentary pop of Solange’s “When
I Get Home” and singer/ clarinetist Angel Bat
Dawid’s iPhone-recorded jazz poetry.
After an opening skit, “Float” gets the album
off to a wobbly start, with a minute’s worth of
staccato keyboard stabs. “before the world ends”
picks up with a homemade aesthetic. Their fi rst
sung lyrics on the album are “I just want to
fuck to fuck,” as this song is an unabashed ode
to the libido. But the full title is “I just want
to come before the world ends.” As it develops,
it shows off the anxiety behind that sentiment.
The layers of instruments, including chiming
electric piano, never fall smoothly into place.
Dissonant samples fi ll out the mix. Even their
own voice sounds out of place with itself. The
Kesha Leads Her Own Reappraisal
With “High Road,” bi singer reconciles years of changing styles
BY STEVE ERICKSON
Kesha kicked off the last
decade at the height
of her popularity. The
bisexual singer’s fi rst
single “Tik Tok” was also the fi rst
#1 hit of the 2010s. She released
her debut album “Animal” in the
fi rst week of 2010. At the time,
her party girl act, which embraced
the “Jersey Shore” lifestyle with a
degree of irony, was taken at face
value. Instead of being heard as
an expressive tool, her heavy use
of wobbly Autotune was perceived
as a cover for an inability to sing
HYPERDUB
opening drum beat promises a pop song, but
we don’t exactly get one. Instead, Mhysa sings
about masturbating and getting stoned at
home instead of seeking unfulfi lling encounters
with strangers at clubs. As with Tweet’s
➤ MHYSA, continued on p.29
on key.
After her second album, “Warrior,”
was released in 2012, she
accused her songwriter/ producer
Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottswald of
sexually assaulting her. Although
she won the battle in the court of
public opinion and did enormous
damage to his career, she lost her
civil suit against him. But the fi veyear
break from recording caused
by her legal issues allowed her to
reinvent herself. She morphed from
Ke$ha, who celebrated brushing
her teeth with Jack Daniels, to
Mhysa’s second studio album, “Nevaeh,” drops on February 14.
sexual pleasure described in the lyrics seems
more and more distant, with the apocalyptic
feelings coming closer. The song describes sex
as self-medication against despair more than
pleasure.
“w me” takes the sentiments of Tweet’s “Oops
(Oh My)” into more minimal production. The
RCA / KEMOSABE
“High Road” is the new album from Kesha.
➤ KESHA, continued on p.32
February 13 - February 26, 2 28 020 | GayCityNews.com
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