Music & Concerts
New Kelly Clarkson album is welcome change
Free from contentious RCA tenure, she explores more soul-tinged settings


Kelly Clarkson‘s new album is a pleasant departure. (Photo courtesy Atlantic Records)
Despite all the buildup and hype, “American Idol” has yielded only a few artists who’ve been able to sustain a successful, high-profile career in the music industry. First season winner Kelly Clarkson is at the top of that list.
In the 15 years since she won the reality show, Clarkson has delivered seven smash albums, all of which made the top three on Billboard, with three hitting no. 1: (“Thankful,” “All I Ever Wanted,” and her last album, 2015’s “Piece by Piece”). She has also scored 11 top 10 singles, including three chart-toppers: “A Moment Like This,” “My Life Would Suck Without You” and “Stronger.”
Her eighth album, “Meaning of Life,” is her first with Atlantic Records following the completion of the contract with RCA that was part of her “American Idol” prize. It’s no secret that Clarkson has clashed repeatedly with RCA over creative decisions. One of the key selling points offered by Atlantic to lure the star into its fold was more creative freedom and on “Meaning of Life,” Clarkson clearly makes the most of her newfound control. There is a maturity and depth of feeling to the new album that is sometimes lacking in her prior efforts, which tend to be directed primarily to top 40 radio. “Meaning of Life” is different. It’s not as hooky and loaded with radio-friendly dance/pop, yet it might very well be the finest album of her career thus far.
“Meaning of Life” is more soulful and R&B-influenced than Clarkson’s prior work, although it’s still very much a pop album. Clarkson showcases her powerful and dynamic vocals throughout, delivering one mighty performance after another. First single “Love So Soft” is a bare-bones funk/dance track built mainly around a stark electronic rhythm. It’s irresistibly catchy, a bold first taste of Clarkson’s change in sonic direction. It’s followed by “Heat,” a pop/R&B scorcher with Clarkson’s voice as soulful as it’s ever been.
Her ballads are particularly noteworthy for the maturity they exhibit compared with her prior work. The gospel-tinged “Move You” is a stunner, with a spine-tingling vocal that is every bit as magnificent as something Adele might perform. The old-school soul-inspired “Cruel” is another downtempo winner, with Clarkson showing her breezy versatility and range with effortless panache. The album has a decidedly modern sheen, but Clarkson does explore retro influences on several tracks, particularly the dynamic “Medicine” which channels mid-’90s Mariah Carey. The audaciously bold “Whole Lotta Woman,” a fusion of Beyonce and Christina Aguilera, is Clarkson embracing her new direction with passion and ferocity.
One of the album’s highlights is the triumphant “I Don’t Think About You,” a stirring ballad that serves as Clarkson’s declaration of independence. It’s a piercing track that seems directly aimed at those at RCA who prodded her in directions she did not want to go. She revels in her freedom and proclaims she has nothing to prove (and she’s right). Clarkson ends the album “Get High,” a fiery rave-up that once again speaks to her fierce determination to follow her own path.
“Meaning of Life” is a turning point in Clarkson’s career. Now 35 and suddenly able to pursue her own musical ambitions, she has turned to a more mature and sophisticated sound. The songs are still catchy and there’s little doubt she would welcome massive commercial success, but it’s clear she is no longer aiming just for the youthful top 40 crowd. Clarkson has become the artist she always wanted to be. Her exuberance and confidence shine through this album from start to finish, and it’s wonderful to hear. In a year of largely disappointing high-profile pop albums, Kelly Clarkson’s “Meaning of Life” is a welcome exception.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”