My December

International superstar Kelly Clarkson is back and raring to rock, with 'My December', her third album, and the follow-up to 2005's 'Breakaway'. Produced by Grammy winner David Kahne (The Strokes, Bangles, Sugar Ray, Paul McCartney), 'My December' is Clarkson’s most personal album yet, all of which she's either written or co-written. First single, 'Never Again' is best described as "a 21st century idea of hard rock, incorporating loops and other studio effects to find a middle ground between the raw and the cooked". L.A. punk legend and bassist Mike Watt, currently playing with Iggy and the Stooges, appears on three songs, while Clarkson's other touring band members, Jason Halbert and Jimmy Messer, also contributed.

Whether it's the funky new wave of 'One Minute', the startlingly confessional 'Sober', the meditative, soulful Christine McVie-style strains of 'Be Still', the bluesy Joplinesque twang of the cheeky, kiss-off song, 'Chivas', the blues hard-rock of 'Hole' or the full-throttle Pat Benatar howl of 'Haunting', 'My December' shows another side of Kelly Clarkson, who said, "I'll always come out with a different record each time'. Clarkson's gift is finding the source of vitality in absolute mainstream, people-pleasing pop, which by its nature breaks stylistic rules in favour of magpie mash-ups, bold appropriations and happy accidents.