All good things are worth the wait, and boy, does Kelly Clarkson‘s new music fit into that category. It’s been a years-long process both emotionally and musically for the singer to put together her upcoming album Chemistry, which details her 2020 divorce from her husband of seven years, Brandon Blackstock. If her first two offerings off the project are any indication of what’s to come, fans had better buckle up.
Clarkson decided to drop two songs — “Mine” and “Me” — from the album ahead of its June 23 release. Due to its complexity, she felt one song wouldn’t have done the collection justice.
“Having chemistry with someone is an incredible, and overwhelming, feeling,” she shares in a statement. “It’s like you have no choice in the matter. You are just drawn to each other. This can be good and bad. This album take you down every path that chemistry could lead you down.”
“We decided to release ‘Mine’ and ‘Me’ at the same time because I didn’t want to release just one song to represent an entire album, or relationship. There are many stages of grief and loss on this album. Each song is a different stage and emotional state,” she adds.
These first two singles are the perfect examples of the Texas native’s emotional juxtaposition during the divorce process. Although she filed divorce papers in 2020, the split was not finalized until 2022 due to a lengthy legal battle.
In “Mine”, Clarkson is wishing for justice. The moody, vulnerable track — similar to Gabby Barrett‘s “I Hope” — details her desire for her ex to experience a deep love that is then ripped away unexpectedly. She feels as though her shine has been stolen, and it’s only fair if his is, too.
“Go ahead and break my hеart, that’s fine (So unkind) / Eternal sunshine of thе spotless mind (Oh, love is blind) / Why am I missin’ you tonight? (Was it all a lie?) / Someone’s gonna show you how a heart can be used / Like you did mine,” she sings in the chorus.
The song captures the storm of heartbroken emotions — tears falling like rain as pain rolls like thunder. Occasionally a clap of anger strikes like lightning. However, like most storms, there is a time for the clouds to subside and the sun to resume its place in the sky. In this case, the sun is “Me.”
Clarkson is reclaiming her independence in “Me.” The redemptive, hopeful track finds our heroine picking up the pieces of her broken heart. She’s shedding her past pains and finding a new strength within herself.
“I don’t need somebody to hold me / Don’t need somebody to love me / Don’t need somebody to pick these pieces up / I put together my broken / Let go of the pain I’vе been holdin’ / Don’t need to need somebody / When I got me,” she delivers in the chorus.
It’s clear Clarkson will be holding nothing back on this project. Although the path to healing has not been easy, it was important for her to travel all the way through it before putting the album out.
“Look, I’m gonna be really honest with you … it took a minute for me to be able to release this album,” she said during a Q&A segment on her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show. “‘Cause I just had to be over it, through it, all around it, I had to get past it to be able to talk about it.”
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