Kelly Clarkson’s new album is her "freedom" record.
The ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ hitmaker’s first studio album to be released after her ‘American Idol’ contract ended is titled ‘Meaning of Life’ and will be released on Atlantic Records on October 27.
Kelly – who left RCA after 14 years in June to sign with Atlantic – says she "cried" when she realised she would be able to make all the decisions for the first time about how she works with on the record.
In a Facebook Live, she said: "The inspiration behind my new album is, well, I’m free!
"It’s my first album to make outside my contract from ‘Idol’, so, you know, I got to actually pick who I’m working with.
"I didn’t know it could be like this. I literally just cried a lot before, so it’s really fun, and it’s cool, 15 years later, to get to experience this."
The 34-year-old singer previously teased fans that the style of her upcoming album will "definitely" be different, and she finds it odd that nobody knows her sound despite her being on the scene for 14 years.
She said: "We’re still working on it, but we have a good batch of songs already and I can’t wait to sing them live.
"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."
Kelly has taken inspiration from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Tina Turner for the record and admits fans who watched her on the talent show will make a comparison to then and her new music.
She said: "It’s very much my personality. I think it’s very much what people expected from me off of watching me on ‘Idol’.
"I sang all these Aretha things, I love Tina, I love Mariah, I love Whitney. 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."
Kelly Clarkson’s freedom record
