Piece by Piece
“Even if we wanted/You can’t turn back the hands of time,” Kelly Clarkson sings over the synth strut of the aptly titled “Nostalgic.” But the OG American Idol manages to pull off that clock reversal, flooring her DeLorean back to the Eighties on her seventh studio album. She gets her Molly Ringwald on to “Heartbeat Song,” the pulsating first single. On “Dance With Me,” Clarkson channels her inner Pat Benatar over a “Where the Streets Have No Name” thump. Another highlight, “Invincible” (no relation to Benatar’s 1985 hit), is a triumphant power ballad co-written by go-to pop-diva tunesmith Sia. When Clarkson hits that money note toward the end, big hair wins again.