Meaning of Life is the eighth studio album by American pop singer Kelly Clarkson. It was released on October 27, 2017, by Atlantic Records. Executive produced by Clarkson and Craig Kallman, the album is her debut release for the label after completing her recording contract and leaving previous label, RCA Records, which she had signed after winning the first season of American Idol. Weary of the structure of the previous record deal where she was strictly limited to releasing pop music, Clarkson wanted to pursue a different genre—soul and R&B music, which she had previously wanted to make and had only finally found the opportunity to do so after being signed by Kallman to the label.
Meaning of Life is Clarkson's second foray into soul and R&B music, after the lead single to her debut album "Miss Independent", departing from the predominant pop and pop rock sound established from her previous studio releases and returning to her multi-genre performances on American Idol. Inspired by the music of the 1990s and prominent singers Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, En Vogue and Bonnie Raitt, Clarkson wanted the album to evoke a music similar to the early works of those artists—with the overall goal of emoting a "soulful" spirit. To achieve this, Clarkson commissioned several collaborators—from previous associates Jesse Shatkin, Greg Kurstin, Mozella and Jason Halbert, to new project partners The Monarch, Mick Schultz, Harlœ and James Morrison. The album's tracks share a cohesive theme of interpersonal connections in life, centered on the subjects of love and living the moment.
Meaning of Life received a generally positive response from music critics, who commended Clarkson's newfound confidence and the cohesiveness of the album. Commercially, the record became her eighth consecutive studio album to debut in the top three of the Billboard 200 chart. Three singles were released to promote the album: "Love So Soft", "I Don't Think About You", and "Heat", the first and last of which topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Meaning of Life received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Love So Soft" at the 60th and 61st ceremony. Its supporting concert tour of the same name visited various arenas throughout the United States between January and March 2019.
Background After releasing her seventh studio album, Piece by Piece (2015), along with its companion remix album in 2016, Kelly Clarkson had completed the terms of her recording contract with RCA Records and 19 Recordings which she had signed as a prize after winning the inaugural season of American Idol in 2002. As opposed to the previous contract structure where 19 held the phonographic rights to the master recordings, RCA executives Peter Edge and Tom Corson revealed their intentions to sign Clarkson directly to the label without 19's involvement. Their renewal offer would include a three-album deal with a US$1 million advance per album, in contrast to the six-album limit from the previous contract with a US$500,000 incentive per record. Corson also admitted that her relationship with Sony Music executive Clive Davis might prove to be a nuance to the offer.
Despite remarking that her relationship with Edge and Corson on the label had proved to be successful, Clarkson had second thoughts about renewing the contract, which she recalled as an "arranged marriage". As a result, her management met with Warner Music Nashville executive John Esposito, who brokered a meeting with Atlantic Records executives Craig Kallman and Julie Greenwald, who in turn offered her a long-term worldwide deal with a larger creative freedom. On June 24, 2016, Warner Music Group announced that Clarkson had signed a long-term worldwide recording contract with Atlantic and would immediately work on a soul and R&B album set to be released the following year. The move to Atlantic also reunited her with Pete Ganbarg, who had previously did A&R work for her fourth studio album All I Ever Wanted (2009). Later that year, Kallman and Ganbarg, who was producing A&R work on a mixtape inspired by the Broadway musical Hamilton, invited Clarkson to record the musical number "It's Quiet Uptown" for the mixtape, making it her debut appearance on an Atlantic record.
Recording and production
Three of Clarkson's producers from Piece by Piece were confirmed to return for Meaning of Life: Greg Kurstin, Jason Halbert, and Jesse Shatkin, whereas first-time collaborators include The Monarch, Nick Ruth, and Mick Schultz. Deviating from the predominant pop rock sound of her previous releases, Clarkson wanted to approach a different genre—soul and R&B music. She revealed that she had previously wanted to record this type of songs but had never found an opportunity to do so, but has found out that Kallman was "dying to make this record" with her and has counted on his full support. She said the new material was reminiscent of the songs she had performed during her tenure on American Idol, and remarked that the album was a "new and fresh thing" for her and made her feel like a "brand new artist again". Recording sessions began after Clarkson's pregnancy in 2016 and continued until 2017.
To avoid making material similar to that of Stronger (2011), Clarkson met with various songwriters and showcased several soulful tracks to them to demonstrate the album's direction. She remarked that her meeting with various writing camps, discussing what kind of songs she wanted from them and rejecting songs that did not fit the direction of the album was a "different process" for her. Clarkson said that she "wrote a bit", finding inspiration for a song's lyrics in the novel Big Little Lies, but her family life had hindered opportunities for her to contribute more to the writing. Several songwriters such as Ali Tamposi, Mozella, Harlœ, Sebastian Kole, Diztortion, Warren "Oak" Felder have all confirmed to have submitted material to Clarkson in Nashville.
Clarkson and Kallman ultimately executive produced the entire album, with the latter handling the A&R himself. It marked the first time in ten years Clarkson was credited as an executive producer. She described him as "instrumental" in steering the record, but also allowed her to explore the soulful side of her voice that she once displayed on American Idol and in live concerts. She remarked that he helped her understand what an executive producer credit on an album really meant, saying that he would often push the producers who are used to working with other executives in making radio-friendly hits, but that it sometimes tears the spirit and soul out of it. Both invited several performers to play on the album—Kallman personally invited the soul band Earth, Wind & Fire to perform at the recording sessions for the album's two tracks, while Clarkson requested her touring backup singers—Jessi Collins, Nicole Hurst, and Bridget Sarai, to be given a more prominent feature by accompanying her lead vocals, deviating from the usual practice of recording her own background vocals in her previous albums.
Composition Theme and influences
Meaning of Life has a cohesive theme—connection. Lyrical contents of each of the album's tracks center on "love and living, rooted in the past and living in the moment". When asked about what is the "meaning of life" to her, Clarkson remarked that "life is about connection." Clarkson also illustrated the album's logo as a circle to emphasize on life's connection and to indicate that no one is in the middle of it. She added, "This album is not great because of Kelly Clarkson," Kelly admits. "It's great because of all the musicians, all of the singers that are highlighted, all of the engineers, the producers. There are a lot of people that make up an album, and we really wanted to highlight those people." Musically, Clarkson was mainly inspired by the music of the 1990s, along with the early works of vocalists Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, En Vogue and Bonnie Raitt, whose soulful catalogs have inspired a young Clarkson to sing in high school and later embark on a music career. Franklin became the starting point for inspiration, with Clarkson asking, "What if Aretha was born now and made a record today?" as a guiding principle. In turn, Kallman made sure that the record would not sound old, saying that "it's just not nostalgic and a retro experience" but described it as a "modern experience infused with the best of those records we call standards". Critics described Meaning of Life as a mixture of soulful R&B pop; While some designated it as a "soulful pop"/"pop-soul" album, others illustrated it as a soul and R&B record. Raissa Bruner of Time saw its tracks as "soulful anthems mixed with rollicking empowerment pop", while Josh Bell of the Washington Blade characterized it as "more soulful and R&B-influenced than Clarkson's prior work, although it's still very much a pop album."
Meaning of Life is promulgated by Atlantic as the album she was destined to make with the label, a "sensual" pop record and her first documented soul and R&B album; while Clarkson personally described it as the album she had wanted to make since junior high but also a "grown-ass woman's record", explaining that the lyrical content found on the album may not be suitable for her younger self to make. She remarked, "This is a record you make when you've lived (sic)." Unlike her previous releases where she had co-written much of the material, she felt compelled to only pen a few, saying that taking an active role in writing the songs would have taken an expense on her family life. Clarkson then commissioned material that showcases her current state of mind—such as dealing with the rewards and complications that come with connecting with someone emotionally, mentally, physically in a marriage; as well as a mature woman feeling completely comfortable in her own skin after years of withering sexist criticism about her appearance. To discuss these concepts, she invited several collaborators, including Harlœ, whose conversations with Clarkson were used to create some of the album's lyrical content.
Song analysis