Fifteen years after Kelly Clarkson was crowned the inaugural American Idol at age 20, the Grammy-winner has finally made the soul-pop album of her dreams, and LP No. 8 is a long time coming, she tells Entertainment Weekly in a new cover story.

“This is a grown-ass woman’s record,” Clarkson, who released new single "Love So Soft" and the buzzworthy "Move You" this morning (September 7), says. “This isn’t a record I could have made at the age of 20. This is a record you make when you’ve lived.”

Clarkson, known for her candor and humor (secondarily to her voice, of course), said she's managed to sustain her career and sanity because she genuinely loves music. There was never an ulterior motive in setting out to carve out a singing career, she explains.

“A lot of people that I know, especially from Idol, don’t necessarily want to be singers or artists; they just want to be famous,” she says. “That is not going to bring you happiness. And a lot of it falls through the cracks because people make decisions based on what they think will make them famous instead of what will be good for them. I don’t really care about being famous … I’m not trying to impress anyone. I’m just me, and if you like that, cool. If you don’t, that’s totally cool too.”

The Meaning of Life is due out in October.

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