Review: Chemistry is Kelly Clarkson's most personal (and best!) album yet
In her highly anticipated 10th studio album, the original American Idol proves she's a master storyteller, singer-songwriter, and vocalist.
Hey fellow Clarkstan! 👋 Welcome to NOTHING BUT CLARKSON — a newsletter all about Emmy and Grammy winner (and rad human) Kelly Clarkson. Chemistry is finally here—and there’s a lot going on. So let’s dive in!
HERE’S THE THING…
Some random thoughts from me.
REVIEW: Kelly Clarkson’s Chemistry
In “Rock Hudson,” Kelly Clarkson sings, “By the way, piece by piece, I found out my hero is me.” In many ways, that line sums up Chemistry—Kelly’s highly anticipated 10th album (her “divorce album” as many people like to say) and her third with Atlantic Records.
Fans were anticipating a very personal record, and when Chemistry finally dropped on June 23, it did not disappoint at all. The opening song, “Skip This Part,” is emotional, as Kelly wallows about dealing with the dissolution of her marriage and wishing to get to the other side of her grief. It’s a sad song with a slow build, until an unexpected change of pace at 2:54. 😮
In Chemistry, Kelly Clarkson found her voice and herself, piece by piece.
It’s not just in the opening song that we see Kelly taking serious risks in Chemistry. In “Mine,” her first official radio single from the album, she does a similar change of pace after the bridge, bringing the song to a satisfying, angsty climax. “That’s Right,” which features the drummer Shiela E., brings a breezy, almost Caribbean vibe. And in “I Hate Love,” Kelly got Steve Martin to add banjo to the mix. Pop music fans will not love all of these risks, but Kelly has been in the game for more than 20 years now, and she has more than earned the right to try new things.
With producers like Jason Halbert (music director for The Kelly Clarkson Show) and Jesse Shatkins at the helm, Chemistry offers a polished, refreshing and surprisingly timeless sound. Here Kelly traded a slick, bubblegum pop-like production (a la All I Ever Wanted) for strings, bass, guitars, drums, and everything else in between. In songs like “Lighthouse” and “Chemistry,” the production is pretty minimal—letting the lyrics and Kelly’s pristine vocals shine.
Let’s be clear though: Kelly is still a pop star, and Chemistry does have some bops. “Down To You” fits nice with radio’s current obsession with laid-back songs, while “Favorite Kind of High” is just screaming to be a summer / Pride anthem.
In previous interviews, Kelly has said that she wanted Chemistry to represent the full arch of a relationship. So, yes, while Angry Kelly™️ is certainly present in songs like “Red Flag Collector,” other songs like “Chemistry,” “Favorite Kind of High” and “Magic” (which appear back-to-back-to-back) also talk about the initial, illogical feeling of being attracted to someone.
Chemistry is Kelly Clarkson at her best: honest, vulnerable, and triumphant all at the same time.
What’s most remarkable about Chemistry is that the songs sound nothing alike, but somehow, collectively, it’s a cohesive piece of work. Chemistry is Kelly Clarkson at her best: honest, vulnerable, and triumphant all at the same time. With the exception of “High Road” and “My Mistake” (both fantastic songs that fit the theme of the album), Chemistry showcases Kelly’s chops as a songwriter and storyteller—two areas where she tends to be under-rated by music fans and critics.
Now, here’s the thing, I am obviously a huge Kelly Clarkson fan, but objectively this album is an amazing showcase of her growth as an artist and a person. As a fan from the moment she sang “Stuff Like That There” on Idol, I am very proud. But you don’t have to be a stan to recognize this fact: Chemistry is Kelly Clarkson’s magnum opus. It’s a piece of work meant to be consumed from end-to-end, with zero skips.
In Chemistry, Kelly Clarkson found her voice and herself, piece by piece.
Chemistry is Kelly Clarkson’s magnum opus.
RATING: Chemistry by Kelly Clarkson: 5 out of 5 stars
FAVE TRACKS (for now 😜, in no particular order): “Rock Hudson,” “Lighthouse,” “Mine,” “Skip This Part,” “Favorite Kind of High,” “High Road,” and “Down to You.”
SKIPS: LITERALLY NONE.
WHAT’S NEW, CLARKSON?
Notable mentions and news about our queen.
Kelly Clarkson went on a podcast spree, giving interviews to Miss Indepodcast 😮, Lawrence Zarian’s You Are Beautiful, Conan O’Brien’s Conan Needs A Friend, and Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. (Warning: the Zane Lowe interview is very cringey because of the host’s odd behavior! 😬)
Kelly also did radio and TV interviews, including The Today Show (twice), The Elvis Duran Show, and Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show (this one was surprisingly great), among others.
Some Chemistry reviews are out: Page Six gave it a glowing review (“Clarkson’s most triumphant body of work since 2011’s Stronger”), and Slant Magazine gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 because they are a bunch of snobs who wouldn’t dare an American Idol winner anything more than that score.
Great interviews and Chemistry coverage from TIDAL, USA Today, Billboard, etc.
Chart update: Kelly Clarkson’s Chemistry reached #1 on the Worldwide iTunes chart, topping more than 15 markets around the world. Congrats, Kelly!! 🥳
P.S. I realize this is not a comprehensive list of everything that mentioned or talked about Kelly this week. There was a lot going on, and I promise to add more next week. Thanks to @bixin29 for tracking many of Kelly’s interviews and @KellyStats on Twitter for tracking Chemistry’s chart performance.
WHAT I’M LIKING
An awesome post from social media, but without the $1000 cheque. 😉
Kelly Clarkson and Kylie Minogue met at the backstage of The Today Show, and it looked like they were complimenting each other? @MinogueUpdates has a cool video on Twitter.
ONE LAST THING…
Go stream Chemistry using this link from Atlantic Records!