There are 10 occasions to catch Kelly Clarkson performing songs from her latest album in concert, and they are all in Las Vegas during her summer residency. Chemistry … An Intimate Night with Kelly Clarkson cribs its title from Clarkson’s fourth full-length effort, which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Album Sales chart a month after debuting at No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200. That said, fans can be sure Clarkson’s set will be a deep dive into new material that explores both emotions and empowerment after divorce.
Clarkson may be the busiest superstar singer working today. An extensive tour was out of the question as it was not possible to suspend production of her daytime gig, The Kelly Clarkson Show, which recently moved from an L.A. soundstage to Rockefeller Center in New York City. She did undertake a blitz of podcast appearances to promote Chemistry, where she discussed the songs.
Things may have turned out differently if her original residency dates had not been postponed due to the pandemic. Clarkson began working on her latest material prior to lockdown and, by the summer of 2020, she was recording new songs with longtime songwriting and producing producers Jason Halbert and Jesse Shatkin. Collaborators including singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen, comedian-cum-banjoist Steve Martin and percussionist Sheila E. all made guest appearances on different tracks.
Clarkson said she wrote 60 songs for Chemistry. Those that made the album are often brutally frank or celebrate liberation. Album opener “Skip This Part” sets the tone with American Idol’s first and best champion expressing her desire to bypass the most painful phase of breaking up: “If I could escape all this hurt and this pain, oh, I would/ What it’s gonna take to get me through this break is no good.”
How much of the album’s lyrics are direct messaging to her ex and how much are creative expansion on themes of love and loss is likely only apparent to the two people involved in the relationship, but Chemistry has quite a few precedents. Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours are two well-known examples, and Taylor Swift is notorious for compositional vengeance.
Clarkson is no stranger to the subject, having had a No. 2 with “Since U Been Gone” in 2004. It had been six years since her last album when Chemistry was released, and there was a lot for her to unpack. “I hope one day someone will take your heart and hold it tight,” she sings on “Mine.” “Make you feel like you’re invincible deep inside/ And right when you think that it’s perfect, they cross a line/ And steal your shine like you did mine.”
No meanings cloaked in metaphor for Clarkson, but she does express anticipation at the prospect of being free and finding new love in the Jepsen collaboration “Favorite Kind of High.” If there’s one thing likely about … An Intimate Night, it’s that the sets will be emotional roller coasters unlike any Clarkson’s fans have experienced before—and they won’t want to get off the ride.
8 p.m. July 28-29, Aug. 2, 4-5, 9, 11-12 and 18-19, starting at $159 plus tax and fee. ticketmaster.com
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