Daniela Coe-McNamara
Staff Writer
Returning from a four year album hiatus, Kelly Clarkson is back on the pop scene with her new album “Piece by Piece,” released March 3rd. Although she remains true to her pop diva background, Clarkson stays a little too true to her previous musical style.
Despite her previous album successes throughout her career, Clarkson tries too hard to keep up with the younger artists in the pop genre by overshadowing her strong voice with catchy beats and electronic mixing, a poor attempt at originality with her new album “Piece by Piece.”
Clarkson has remained a major pop star throughout the years, releasing seven albums of powerful girl anthems after first surviving critique from American Idol in 2002. Belting out soulful tunes has always been common for Kelly Clarkson, particularly in her two 2003 albums, “Thankful” and “Miss Independent,” as well as in her six following albums.
Kelly Clarkson has finally released yet another deluxe edition album with “Piece by Piece,” following a four year break during which she got married and had a baby. Some critics say that Clarkson has settled down due to her new family and hiatus from the music business, during which popular music has evolved without her presence. But now Clarkson seems poised to compete in the ever changing music industry.
Throughout “Piece by Piece,” Clarkson continues her passionate style but also adds more hip beats to bring a younger feel to her classic voice and style. With songs such as “Take You High” and “Dance with Me,” Clarkson makes an attempt at saturating the trendy electronic beats so common in mainstream pop. However, these hip beats obscure her melodies, failing to properly embrace the true power behind her beloved voice.
When listening to “Piece by Piece,” many of the songs blend together in a melody of Clarkson’s rich voice and experimental pop background noise, showing Clarkson’s inability to truly mix up her style, despite her attempts with a newer, more electronically influenced sound. In her song “Run Run Run”, a duet with John Legend, Clarkson tries to manipulate the appeal of one of today’s rising pop stars to attract listeners to her own music. But, as the only duet on the album, the song is merely a cover of Tokyo Hotel’s “Run Run Run.” This is yet another demonstration of the album’s incapacity for originality in such a generic pop scene full of younger competition.
Clarkson does demonstrate her musical talent in her more emotional ballads, such as the title song, “Piece by Piece,” a poignant tune directed at her father, and a particularly sentimental song, “Nostalgic.” These songs are less electronically influenced, allowing Clarkson to demonstrate her true singing abilities that have been the calling card of her unique style.
Catchy beats may allow Kelly Clarkson to remain a pop icon with “Piece by Piece,” but she will have to work harder to show off her unique voice if she wants to continue her successful pop career while balancing the life of a mother, wife, and pop star.
“Piece by Piece” is available on iTunes for $12.99 for the Deluxe Edition, and free on Spotify and other free streaming sites, as well as in retail stores such as Target.
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