Kelly Clarkson Says Working on New Music Has Been 'Hardest Thing to Navigate' amid Divorce

Kelly Clarkson's divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock put a strain not only on her personal life, but on her songwriting, too.

The "Stronger" singer, 40, opened up in a new interview about writing new music while dealing with the ripple effects of her split from Blackstock, 45, and the struggles that came with it.

"It's been the hardest thing to navigate. I've never had this difficult of a project," she told The Chart Show with Brooke Reese on Apple Music 1. "It's one of those things where I'm a human and I'm going through something huge. Obviously, everybody knows a huge divorce went through and it's been like, two years and not easy with kids."

Clarkson and Blackstock, who share daughter River Rose, 8, and Remington Alexander, 6, split in June 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in March.

The Kelly Clarkson Show host said that dealing with the divorce "in the public eye" while balancing motherhood "makes it just a whole different dynamic," but that she's always used songwriting as an outlet for her emotions.

Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images Kelly Clarkson

"I've always had a hard time communicating and literally that's how I became a writer at the age of 10, because my mom was like, 'You need to quit bottling it up. And then you explode. You need to communicate better,'" she said. "And so I literally started writing to help me do that."

Clarkson cited Billie Eilish's hit "Happier Than Ever" as the perfect example of how a song can affect others (including herself; Clarkson recently released a cover of the tune alongside an announcement that she'll be putting out a Kellyoke covers EP named after the popular segment on her show).

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"That song I'm sure means a whole heap of different things for her. And it's her world and why she wrote it," Clarkson explained. "But the domino effect of her releasing that and how it affects so many other people, because those are the songs when you are completely honest and you're angry and you're sad and you're hurt. And all those things, that equation makes for the best songs. So I'm just navigating what I'm comfortable with releasing."

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock

While the star didn't offer any hints as to when fans can expect music, she did say that it's "coming," as soon as she figures out what she wants to release.

"I just got to get my crap together!" she said.

Clarkson did give fans a taste of what her post-divorce music might look like last year with "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)," a holiday kiss-off featured on her album When Christmas Comes Around.

A source told PEOPLE in March that upon finalizing her divorce, Clarkson was ready to move forward.

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"Kelly is obviously happy to have the divorce finalized," the insider says. "The kids have always been her main priority through everything. She truly is able to begin the next chapter of her life with her kids, and she's also busier than ever with her career. She's in a great place."

Clarkson's interview will air in full on Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT/ 6 p.m. ET or anytime on-demand at apple.co/_Chart.