Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)

The ever lovely Kelly Clarkson's last single Mr. Know It All was a bit of a hit-in-disguise, a subtle grower that bloomed from small, innocuous beginnings into an all out uber-hit. For me, it was her X Factor performance that really crystallised what a great song it really was.

But new single Stronger is all about the instant appeal - it's an all-out up-tempo pop-rock stormer straight out of the Since U Been Gone mold; it's Kelly on fine form, doing what she's always done best. With a good drenching of synths and an empowering 'GirlPower!' chorus (surely mandatory for any big female star's latest hit single these days, right?)

Basically, it's a brilliant pop song. And Kelly looks great in the video too.

Stronger is released on the 6th February.

(Video) Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All

When it comes to Kelly Clarkson, most of us know her for her jaw-droppingly amazing anthems Since U Been Gone and My Life Would Suck Without You. You know, those amazing up-tempo stormers that everyone seems to love, even if they're the kind of kid that wears skinny jeans every day and usually listens to the Arctic Monkeys.

Kelly Clarkson has made a career out of sewing together a great voice, great looks and a formidable blend of pop and rock - her tracks - apart from that shaky blip when she went all emo - have by and large continued the large wealth of public affection for the star where many of her contemporaries have slipped away into obscurity.

New single Mr. Know It All steps things down a notch, keeping things moving at a nice little mid-tempo stroll as opposed to the full-throttle sprint of her past chart hits. What it does highlight though is the importance of a great melody, one which is allowed to really shine through in the track's simplicity.

'You don't know a thing about me...' sings Kelly in the track's chorus - well, there's one thing that we do know, that this is another brilliant pop song from Miss Clarkson.

Mr. Know It All is released on the 23rd October. Kelly's new album Strong is available to pre-order here.

Kelly Clarkson - New album artwork 'Stronger'

Here, take a look at the cover art for Kelly Clarkson's new album 'Stronger'.

Pretty nice right?

Of course, you do have to wonder what sort of statement an artist is trying to make when they call their single/album Stronger. Does it mean they're stronger than the rest of the world or just that their new incarnation is in some way stronger than they were before?

Either way, we're quite excited to hear Kelly's new material - though we reckon it'll be pretty hard to beat the dizzy heights of Since U Been Gone and My Life Would Suck Without You.

Going by these two, it'd appear the recipe for a classic Kelly track is a big, fizzy pop-rock anthem, the kind of thing people can bawl out the chorus to, even when off their face on their fifth snakebite of the night.

The album's lead single Mr Know It All is out on the 10th October.