K.FLAY – ALBUM REVIEW


K.Flay – Solutions (Interscope Records) 
K.Flay - Solutions

Release Date: 12th July 2019

LA’s hottest property K.Flay is finally dropping her new album and it comes just in time for summer. ‘Solutions’ is a ten-track collection that opens with the ode to self-worth ‘I Like Myself’, a track that delicately throbs in to action with some innocent sounding vocals singing razor sharp lyrics. “Everybody wants to count their calories, their dollars and their likes” sings K.Flay in a song that riles against pretty much every aspect of modern, image obsessed society with a message that could bring a lot of young people back from the brink if they just give it time – “You only get one shot, let her rip”. On ‘Bad Vibes’ there’s a more steely, aggressive vibe which has a Sleigh Bells sound to it while ‘This Baby Don’t Cry’ has a garage-punk energy which Regina Spektor could be found singing with Le Tigre.

We’re well on the way now and ‘Sister’ moves into synth-pop territory normally occupied by the likes of Ladytron or LadyHawke with uplifting melodies and impish vocals. The trip slows down a few gears on ‘Nervous’ as the electric piano chords give us a chance to hear K.Flay’s vocals stripped back to their tender and delicate tones and she stands up to every bit of scrutiny. The stabbing piano notes at the start of ‘Good News’ shake you out of your reverie and the rapid-fire vocal is slickly delivered by an artist at the peak of her creative freedom. There is more of a quirk to ‘Ice Cream’ with a Kate Nash-esque guitar line mixed with some direct lyrics taking on the issue of a lust-triangle; “you are my ice-cream, you make my brain freeze” is a love letter delivered from the centre of an amour-affected brain.

K.Flay, OK?
Recent single ‘Not In California’ makes even more sense in the context of this album and the Lily Allen of the United States sings straight at the climate emergency deniers; “The birds all died and the trees caught fire and the government called us crazy”. ‘Only the Dark’ pulses and throbs with dark, malevolent energy before closing track ‘DNA’ takes us over the edge with an epic pop odyssey full of class, sophistication and, well, ideas. And this is the secret of K.Flay, she has ideas. Each song is articulate, clever, funny, sassy and direct which is exactly what you should expect from a pop album in 2019. This is why this album might just be in my top albums of 2019 unless the second half of the year gets significantly better.






Live Dates:

17th July – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
18th July – Howler, Melbourne
2nd August – Wisconsin State Fair, West Allis
3rd August – Queen Mary Events Park, Long Beach
24th August – Edge Fest, Civic Commons Park
3rd September – Luckyman Concerts, Tempe
5th September – The Observatory North Park, San Diego
7th September – Fox Theater, Oakland
9th September – The Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
11th September – Showbox SoDo, Seattle
13th September – Crystal Ballroom, Portland
14th September – The Wilma, Missoula
17th September – First Avenue & 7th St Entry, Minneapolis
19th September – The Riviera Theatre, Chicago
20th September – The Crofoot, Pontiac
21st September – Town Ballroom, Buffalo
22nd September – The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto
24th September – Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn
25th September – Royale, Boston
26th September – TLA, Philadelphia
29th September – 9:30 Club, Washington
30th September The Fillmore, Charlotte
2nd October – Marathon Music Works, Nashville
11th October – Barton Springs/Zilker Park, Austin
12th October – Fillmore Auditorium, Denver
21st October – Saint Luke’s & the Winged Ox, Glasgow
22nd October – Gorilla, Manchester
23rd October – Heaven, London
25th October – Paradiso Noord, Tolhuistuin
26th October – Botanique, Brussels
27th October – La Maroquinerie, Paris
29th October – Kulturkirche Koln, Cologne
31st October – Astra Kulturhaus, Berlin
1st November – Hotel Cecil, Copenhagen
2nd November – Nalen, Stockholm
4th November – Markthalle, Hamburg
5th November – WERK2-Kulturfabrik, Leipzig-Connewitz
7th November – Rock Café, Prague
8th November – FLEX, Vienna
9th November – Dom in Berg, Graz
10th November – STROM, Munich
11th November – Zoom Club, Frankfurt

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