Kelly Clarkson Says Her Upcoming Album's Cover Photo Won't Be Photoshopped: 'It Felt Like Me'

Kelly Clarkson is getting real about what fans can expect from her highly-anticipated upcoming record.

Earlier this week, the singer-songwriter rang in the new year by revealing details about her forthcoming record during an Instagram Live on The Kelly Clarkson Show account.

The "Since You've Been Gone" singer, 40, began by opening up about something she's excited about in 2023: "I have an album coming out this year. I swear, I know I've been talking about it, but look, I'm being completely honest with you."

"It took a minute for me to be able to release this album because I had to get past it in order to talk about it," the "Breakaway" singer added.

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She then shared details about the photoshoot for the album cover.

"I do whatever it takes to get out of a shoot — it's not my happy place," Clarkson said, adding that this one felt different. "It felt like me. I was able to be free and be myself."

"You're gonna want [it] on a vinyl just for the picture alone... that's incredible and that's not photoshopped."

Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

In September, Clarkson opened up about the new album during a cover story interview with Variety.

"I'm working on my album this week. It's coming out next year. And this is an important album," Clarkson told the outlet. "I'm working on this in therapy — 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."

Nearly seven years after their October 2013 nuptials, Clarkson filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock, citing irreconcilable differences, in June 2020. She seemingly began creating the album shortly afterward, telling Variety it's been in the works for "two years."

"When my ex and I first separated, there were many emotions. It was hard," said Clarkson. "My producer and I were laughing yesterday because I was like, 'Remember that time we wrote, like, 25 songs in a week?' A lot of those are the ones that are on the album."

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After writing most of the record "almost two years ago," the American Idol alum explained, "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. 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!'" (Clarkson released a cover of Vince Vance & the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 2020 as well as her Grammy-nominated holiday album, When Christmas Comes Around..., in 2021.)

Given her many other personal and professional roles at the time, she wasn't planning on making a new album until she "needed to."

"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. But then the whole divorce thing happened, and I needed to write it," Clarkson said. "And then I didn't know if I was going to release it, because you can be very angry in that state of mind."

Detailing the album's subject matter, she continued, "So some of the songs, they definitely cover the gamut of emotions; there's everything on the album. It's 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."