Kelly Clarkson Opens up About Her New Album: “It’s Way More Soulful”

Mike Wass | October 3, 2016 3:49 pm
An Update On Kelly Clarkson's 8th Album
New record label, new era. Kelly Clarkson's 8th album is coming along nicely.

After 14 years with RCA, Kelly Clarkson signed a new deal with Atlantic Records in June and got straight to work. The 34-year-old’s eighth album, which is due in 2017, finds her dabbling in soul music. “I’ve actually always wanted to make this album and I just haven’t been able to,” she says in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly. “While it is still pop, it’s way more soulful.” Why the change in direction? “Because the sound is so innate in me. It’s just so natural. It’s like, ‘God! You should have been making records like this the whole time’… I’ve just wanted to make this particular record since I was in junior high.”

Changing labels has facilitated the inaugural American Idol winner’s new sound. “[Atlantic] just had this stellar, soulful, more urban vibe, and that’s really what I was looking for.” There’s another, exciting reason why she chose them. “They’re down with me making a country record one day.” That’s great news for fans of her double platinum-selling duet with Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” Kelly isn’t only exploring a new sound, she’s also pushing herself as a songwriter.

The “Piece By Piece” hitmaker wrote a song about domestic violence after reading Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies. “I actually wrote a song that might go on this next record about one of the characters, Celeste,” Kelly reveals. “I know this is going to sound horrible, but I’ve just never understood domestic violence. And Liane did such a great job at depicting the emotional state, what exactly is going through peoples’ heads, why they make the decisions they do, what traps them, what they’re holding on to. So I wrote the song from the character’s perspective.”

Watch the big-lunged diva belt out Rihanna’s “Love On The Brain” (below) for some idea of what to expect from her new record.

I just love this song, @badgalriri kills it! #LoveOnTheBrain *Full video on my Facebook!

A video posted by Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) on

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