Pop star Kelly Clarkson has shared a taste of her deeply personal forthcoming album, Chemistry.
Videos by American Songwriter
The multi-hyphenate artist dropped two singles Friday (April 14), titled “Mine” and “Me,” a pair of songs meant to introduce an album about the life of a relationship. A post-divorce release, Chemistry finds Clarkson laying emotions bare.
“We decided to release ‘mine’ and ‘me’ at the same time because I didn’t want to release just one song to represent an entire album or relationship,” the star shared in a press release. “There are many stages of grief and loss on this album. Each song is a different stage and emotional state.”
“Mine” and “Me” are all power, two tracks that not only show off her goosebump-inducing vocal prowess but also put her emotional range on full display.
The forthcoming album was inspired by a few recent life-altering years in the singer’s journey. In 2020, she separated from her husband and the father of her two young children and has since been exploring the emotions that have surrounded the split.
“I’ve been working on this project for close to three years now,” Clarkson shared, announcing the album in a video post on her Instagram. “I wasn’t sure I was going to release it, but I am.
“I was trying to find a word, it might be one of the songs on the album, but I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing,” she added of the album’s title. “I didn’t want everybody to think I was just coming out with some, ‘I’m angry,’ ‘I’m sad’—just one or two emotions. This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship.” She explained Chemistry will cover “the good, the bad and the ugly” in a relationship.
Chemistry is arriving on June 23. Listen to the two new singles below.
This summer, the vocalist is bringing Chemistry to Sin City for an “intimate” 10-night engagement at Las Vegas’ newly named Bakkt Theater (formerly Zappos Theater) that kicks off in late July.
“We’re calling it an intimate night and I don’t want to give it away,” she shared a few details with Billboard in an exclusive interview but assured a special night with her fans. “I wanted to have this moment with my audience with the new music,” she added. “My last tour was in 2019 so it’s been years for me [since I’ve been able to] sing more than two minutes on TV. It’s nice to be doing a full show. I worked really hard on this record and it took me a while to figure out if I was actually going to put it out. Once I decided, I wanted to sing this live and feel that energy from the crowd. I didn’t want to do a tour. I have a lot of jobs and also I obviously want to spend some time with my kids this summer so I agreed to do 10 shows.”
‘Chemistry’ Track List:
1. “skip this part”
2. “mine”
3. “high road”
4. “me”
5. “down to you”
6. “chemistry”
7. “favorite kind of high”
8. “magic”
9. “lighthouse”
10. “rock Hudson”
11. “my mistake”
12. “red flag collector”
13. “i hate love” feat. Steve Martin
14. “that’s right” feat. Sheila E.
Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images
