Kelly Clarkson fans who have been dying for new music from the hitmaker can rest assured that impassioned, post-divorce-inspired tracks are on the way! The "Since U Been Gone" singer, 40, just sat down for a new interview with Variety and revealed that the tumultuous end of her 7-year marriage with talent manager Brandon Blackstock is inspiring new creative work that she will soon share along with her upcoming studio album.
"When my ex and I first separated, there were many emotions. It was hard," she told the outlet. "My producer and I were laughing yesterday because I was like, 'Remember that time we wrote, like, 25 songs in a week?'" If you (like us) are dying to hear the emotive songs she's describing, luckily, they will appear on her next record. "A lot of those are the ones that are on the album," she explained. "I literally wrote most of these almost two years ago. Then I told my label, 'I can't talk about this until I've gone through it,' and it's just taken some time to do that." She continued, "That's one of the reasons we've done a lot of Christmas stuff the past two years - because I was like, "Well, that's happy!"
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Clarkson noted that her busy schedule over the past few years (hosting The Kelly Clarkson Show, launching American Song Contest with Snoop Dogg, etc) made it difficult to solely focus on creating music, and preparing to share it with fans. "I hadn't really been working hardcore on an album until I needed to. I was just very busy," the American Idol alum added. "There were so many jobs, and I'm a single mom - well, even with being married, it's a lot, trying to fit kids' schedules in and all that stuff."
Clarkson and Blackstock's divorce was settled back in March 2022, nearly two years after their split, and the former couple share 2 children, daughter River, 8, and son Remington, 6, and the former Voice coach has primary custody. "But then the whole divorce thing happened, and I needed to write it," Clarkson said of her upcoming release, "And then I didn't know if I was going to release it, because you can be very angry in that state of mind. So some of the songs, they definitely cover the gamut of emotions; there's everything on the album."
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She also stressed that her forthcoming music chronicles "almost like the arc of a relationship, because the beginning is so beautiful and so sweet, and then it evolves. And sometimes it doesn't evolve how you want." The "Breakaway" crooner deemed it an "important" album. "I'm working on this in therapy," she confessed, "I have a hard time vocalizing what I'm feeling sometimes, so music is helpful for me. It's just been really healing. I recorded the record quite some time ago."
While the Grammy winner also excited fans by discussing a possible return to touring, she emphasized that her kids' schedules will always be her first priority. "I definitely am going to do shows. We're figuring that out," she revealed, "But when you write an album that's so personal, it's just therapeutic to be able to get up there." The musician also noted that she hopes her music can be therapeutic and cathartic for those who have experienced a heavy break-up or divorce.
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"I'm through it now, but there is somebody else who is in it, and that's a hard place to be, especially if you feel alone," she sweetly said. "It's a hard thing to describe, it's a hard thing to go through publicly, it's hard with kids. This record, I think I wrote this for a reason - not just for me, but maybe someone else can benefit from it." As avid listeners of her most recent cover EP Kellyoke, we can't wait to hear her new music!