She primarily worked with producer Rick Rubin, who helped her dive deep into her more vulnerable side to create the project.

Musically, Gag Order diverges from the electro-pop sound of Kesha's previous album, High Road, and explores a range of genres, including art pop, experimental, electronic, and psychedelic elements.

[1][2][3] Additionally, the album incorporates influences from minimalism, hyperpop, soul, lo-fi, dark wave, country, and gospel genres.

[6] Lyrically, Gag Order delves into darker themes such as death, depression, emotional exploitation, control, hope, and a quest for truth.

[7] In contrast to High Road, which aimed to recapture her party pop sound, Gag Order finds Kesha focusing on overcoming trauma and depression resulting from her legal battle with her former producer, Dr. Luke.

[11] The album title is supposed to reflect the situation she has been under due to the legal case against producer Dr. Luke, leaving her unable to speak or comment on it.

[14] In a Rolling Stone interview, she revealed that releasing the album feels like "giving birth to the most intimate thing" she has ever created, citing anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic and spiritual experiences of the previous three years as main influences.

[15] The pandemic made the singer face these emotions she had avoided dealing with, particularly around her image after years of judgment from the public.

[16] Guest appearances include her mother Pebe Sebert, her eight-year-old niece Luna on "Only Love Reprise",[15] Neopagan leader, Oberon Zell, and Ram Dass in archival audio.

In early 2023, she live streamed portions of several songs on Instagram, as well as releasing versions of "Eat the Acid" and "Fine Line" onto SoundCloud, before eventually removing them.

The hashflags consist of the Gag Order logo, the plastic bag from the cover art, and the green chair from one of the promotional images, respectively.

Kesha's vocals and lyrics, and the ability to write about her lawsuit against Dr. Luke without directly referring to it, were met with praise.

[2] Paul Attard of Slant magazine praised Kesha's vocals and the variety of genres, but criticized the back half of the album, saying that the production is "shoddy" and underdeveloped.

[30] Alex Rigotti of Clash magazine criticized Rick Rubin's production, saying his minimalist philosophy stifles many of the tracks.

In her statement, Kesha stated she doesn't recall everything that happened the night of the alleged abuse, while Dr. Luke continued to deny he ever raped her.