Kelly Clarkson is to release a new single in April and album in June.
Kelly Clarkson
The 'Since You've Been Gone' hitmaker insists her forthcoming record is the "favourite thing" she's ever done musically because she is no longer tied down to an 'American Idol' contract after winning the inaugural series in 2002.
Kelly - who left RCA after 14 years in June to sign with Atlantic - said: "We are hoping the single will be in April, and then the album in June.
"It's my favourite thing I've ever done. It's the first time I got to pick my label, because I just got out of my ['American] Idol' contract. I've been dying to make this record since 'Idol'."
The 34-year-old singer has teased fans that the style of her upcoming record will "definitely" be different, and she finds it odd that nobody knows her sound despite her being on the scene for 14 years.
She said: "We're still working on it, but we have a good batch of songs already and I can't wait to sing them live.
"They're amazing. After having a career for so long, it's so weird that nobody knows [my sound] yet, so it's going to be so good. It's definitely a different chapter."
Kelly has taken inspiration from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Tina Turner for her upcoming album and admits fans who watched her on the talent show will make a comparison to then and her new music.
She added to PEOPLE: "It's very much my personality. I think it's very much what people expected from me off of watching me on 'Idol'.
"I sang all these Aretha things, I love Tina, I love Mariah, I love Whitney. I think it's very much what people expected in the first place.
"I love all my stuff that I've done but this is the record that has been in me since junior high. And that music from when I was in junior high is now coming back [into style] - like our 15-year-old listens to R&B that I listened to in high school."
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