New CDs

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

KELLY CLARKSON
“My December”
(RCA)

At the end of the new Kelly Clarkson album it finally arrives: a song worth all the fuss. It’s called “Irvine,” and it’s a gentle prayer, sweetened by a strummed guitar, a ghostly hint of pedal steel and (every now and then) a digitized string section. Her voice breathy and soft, the edges rounded by vibrato, Ms. Clarkson beseeches the Almighty: “Are you there watching me?/As I lie here on this floor.”

And after the events of the last few weeks one half-expects a booming reply: “This is Clive Davis. Yes, I’m here. Now get up.”

Until recently Ms. Clarkson seemed to have nothing but fans. In 2002 she won the first “American Idol”; in 2003 she released a successful debut, “Thankful”; in 2004 she returned with “Breakaway,” which has sold nearly six million copies in America. Her biggest hit, “Since U Been Gone,” has become one of this decade’s defining pop songs: a glorious blast of bubblegum emo.

Then came word that executives at her label, RCA, weren’t happy with her new music, and soon the disagreement went public. There were reports that Mr. Davis, the old-school impresario who runs RCA (and who won a Grammy as a producer of “Breakaway”), was dissatisfied with the songs, which Ms. Clarkson helped to write; he conspicuously declined to clear the air. She talked in interviews about being a young woman in an industry run by old men. She fired her manager. She canceled her summer tour because of slow ticket sales.

All that over this? “Irvine” aside, “My December” isn’t a shocking change of direction, though it’s also not very good. Now, as then, she sings petulant lyrics over computer-enhanced electric guitars. “Never Again,” the first single, was a loud and bitter breakup song; “Sober,” the current one, builds slowly to a hard-won conclusion: “Three months and I’m still sober.”

This melancholy is welcome, as it was before; what’s missing is the sense of fun that turned her old hits (even the accusatory ballad “Because of You”) into karaoke favorites. There are no collaborations with Max Martin and Dr. Luke, the pop scientists who wrote and produced “Since U Been Gone.” Instead of soaring, Ms. Clarkson digs in, singing melodies that sometimes sound cramped and repetitive; perhaps the music echoes the obstinate lyrics too well. Let’s not get carried away, though: Ms. Clarkson’s voice still sounds great, and there are a few songs that conjure the old giddiness, like “How I Feel,” a new-wavey lament. And all the controversy has made Ms. Clarkson even easier to admire. But as Mr. Davis (who seems happy to play the villain) knows better than anyone, support and sympathy don’t turn an album into a blockbuster; big hits do. Everyone’s rooting for Ms. Clarkson, but that’s no guarantee she’ll win. KELEFA SANNEH