The 'Because of You' hitmaker describes her forthcoming record as 'soul urban pop' not the 'rock pop' familiar to her fans.
- Nov 9, 2016
AceShowbiz - Kelly Clarkson is gearing up for her upcoming eighth studio album. The "My Life Would Suck Without You" songstress offers new details regarding the follow-up to 2015's "Piece by Piece", which is her first album since signing a deal with Atlantic Records.
Kelly describes her new album as "soul urban pop" not the "rock pop" familiar to her fans. "It's very much my personality," she explains, "I think it's very much what people expected from me off of watching me on 'Idol'. I sang all these Aretha [Franklin] things, I love Tina [Turner], I love Mariah [Carey], I love Whitney [Houston]."
"I think it's very much what people expected in the first place. I love all my stuff that I've done but this is the record that has been in me since junior high. And that music from when I was in junior high is now coming back [into style] - like our 15-year-old listens to R&B that I listened to in high school," she continues.
The "American Idol" alum tells PEOPLE, "We are hoping the single will be in April, and then the album in June. It's my favorite thing I've ever done. It's the first time I got to pick my label, because I just got out of my '[American] Idol' contract. I've been dying to make this record since 'Idol'."
"We're still working on it, but we have a good batch of songs already and I can't wait to sing them live," she adds, "They're amazing. After having a career for so long, it's so weird that nobody knows [my sound] yet, so it's going to be so good. It's definitely a different chapter."
During the interview, Kelly also reveals that her dream was actually to be a background singer. "I feel really lucky in the sense that, yes, I did know that I wanted to sing but my actual goal was to be a background singer," she says, "One, because I don't think it's far fetched to anyone to believe that I don't really fit the mold for what a normal pop star is."
She goes on, "And, two, I am so jealous of my background singers. They get to work with all these amazing artists and go to all these amazing places and they actually get to see them, because they're not working the whole time."
The "Because of You" hitmaker says she auditioned for "American Idol" in 2002 because she "needed money" that time. "It went from there," she explains, "It wasn't a goal to be a solo artist but I guess I'm super controlling, so it's probably good that it worked out this way."
