Kelly Clarkson‘s new album When Christmas Comes Around…, due next month, is her second holiday album, following 2013’s Wrapped In Red. Kelly says she hadn’t planned on another one — until she figured it might be just what she needs after the year she’s had.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Kelly, who’s going through a high-profile divorce from Brandon Blackstock, explains, “I kind of thought I’d never make another Christmas album because I love Wrapped in Red so much. And then I thought, ‘You know what? I feel like I could use some Christmas cheer, and maybe a lot of us could.”
“There’s a lot of songs on there that aren’t necessarily your, like, ‘Let’s play and get in a jolly mood’ kind of vibe,” she explains. “Some are, ‘Let’s really feel all the feelings’ Christmas songs.’ I think that’s why I named it When Christmas Comes Around, because when Christmas comes around, we are all in different places.”
“It’s very representative of all those different emotions that one might be feeling around Christmas time,” Kelly adds. “But there’s some happy stuff too. It’s like happy and sad…it kind of feels more like an album you release normal[ly], and then there’s Christmas sprinkled on it.”
The first single, “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You),” is an example of this, Kelly notes, adding that she feels like, “a lot of things in life got canceled” in the past 20 months due to COVID.
“I think if you’d been in a relationship that didn’t work out…it was like, ‘O.K., it didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean it’s all ruined. That doesn’t mean everything’s over,'” she explains.
The new album features collaborations with Ariana Grande and country stars Chris Stapleton and Brett Eldredge.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.