“favorite kind of high” by Kelly Clarkson, Saturday, June 17, 2023

Kelly Clarkson's over twenty year career since winning the first season of American Idol has made the singer one of the most successful voices in music today. Twenty years ago, her debut album Thankful debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album sales charts. Clarkson was both the first Idol winner, the most successful, and the most lasting, and she has worked hard to keep her music and her overall brand in the spotlight for twenty years, doing so without much controversy. Later this month, twenty years after her debut, she will release Chemistry, her tenth studio album.

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT. Kelly Clarkson has entertained her fans with a wide-range of sounds. American Idol helped Clarkson sell the sounds she was unable to market prior to the show. She told The Guardian in 2015 that she was turned down by every record label and she was told she “sounded too black.” But with American Idol and the management she was signed to because of the show, Clarkson wasn't exactly free to make the music she wanted. So by her sophomore album, Clarkson signed a new management deal and ventured into an edgier rock sound.  With the exception of her third record My December, which took a darker sound, the rock sound proved to be a successful musical endeavor for Clarkson. But as rock music’s favorability diminished in the ‘10s, Clarkson’s music returned to her R&B and soul roots. The late '10s proved successful for Clarkson as a singer and as a television personality. Her 2017 album  Meaning of Life is a gem of a mature singer all the more comfortable with her vocal virtuosity.

RUSHIN' THROUGH ME LIKE A FIRE. But Kelly Clarkson will only truly followed up Meaning of Life with Chemistry. While Clarkson did start writing the follow up to Meaning of Life, a whole lotta life happened in between the releases. For starters, Clarkson separated and divorced her husband after seven years of marriage. Clarkson also served as a judge on the hit show The Voice. The busy schedule of the show keeps all of the celebrity panelists busy from their musical careers. Then in 2019, Clarkson got her own talk show on NBC, eventually taking Ellen Degeneres' time slot in 2022. While Clarkson recorded an EP of covers last year, Kellyoke, and a Christmas album in 2021, her busy schedule may be a reason why we haven't had an album of original songs since 2017. Clarkson has released several singles from Chemistry including today's song "favorite kind of high" along with a remix by David Guetta and even a track with comedy legend Steve Martin called "i hate love," with Martin even playing banjo on the track. If you wonder why "favorite kind of high" sounds so bouncy and refreshing, look no further than the credits, which lists Carly Rae Jepsen as one of the three writers on the track. While divorce and break ups are in the singer's past, love has a healing, euphoric power. I hope to be pleasantly surprised with a great album later this month. 

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