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Hear Ke$ha’s ‘Warrior’: Iggy Pop, the Strokes, and Ghost Sex (Plus Yodeling)

Ke$ha's 'Warrior'

Ke$ha has been talking up the “balls-out, irreverent rock’n’roll” of her follow-up to 2010’s Animal since early last year. Now Warrior is almost here — the release date is December 4 — and you can hear the whole thing yourself for free via iTunes. As heralded by advance tracks “C’Mon” and “Die Young,” the overall style is closer to balls-out, irreverent electro-pop, but Kesha Rose Sebert has indeed ramped up her use of guitars. Also, yodeling and whistling.

Again, you can listen to the whole thing over at iTunes. That includes Ke$ha’s Santorum-smearing, Black Keys-boogying team-up with Iggy Pop, “Dirty Love,” which you can also hear below (while the leak lasts). It’s a vast improvement on the apparently aborted Iggy collaboration “Pretty Lady.” Plus, two members of the Strokes pitch in on distinctly Strokes-y “Only Wanna Dance With You,” and Ke$ha addresses her much-discussed ghost-sex experience on the whirring “Supernatural.”

Quick impression: We’ve been a little tough on early Warrior cuts given how she raised our expectations with heartfelt Dylan covers and talk of “cock pop,” but what we have here is pointedly hedonistic dance pop with a strong personality, and it’s easy to imagine happily hearing this all winter. Yodeling and whistling maybe included. That stuff’s pretty balls-out, right?

Don’t miss SPIN’s interview: Ke$ha on Playing With Strokes, Loving Cults, and Beard Porn