Kelly Clarkson Unleashes Her Post-Divorce Anger on New Song ‘Red Flag Collector’

Kelly Clarkson puts her ex, Brandon Blackstock, on blast in her new song, “Red Flag Collector,” off her upcoming Chemistry album. “Sure, you can have the towels,” she sings, “You can take my money drag my name ’round town/I don’t mind I changed it anyway.” The couple ended their marriage three years ago this month, but the song sounds more like a celebration than a mourning. It begins with a grungy guitar riff and ends with Latin horns. “I learned the hard way about love,” she sings in the tune’s big chorus, “Sometimes it just isn’t enough.” It’s clear she was over it.

The video for the song, filmed at Los Angeles’ Belasco Theater in April, begins with Clarkson explaining what the track is all about. “So divorce … things get said that you are like, ‘What?’” she says, looking astounded with that last word. “You just get caught off guard, and you’re like, ‘I need to write a song or I’m going to set my house on fire.’ So I feel like the first one’s healthier. So you can tell by the title, it’s called ‘Red Flag Collector.’” She looks proud and joyous throughout the song, ending with a giggle.

Clarkson previously released “Favorite Kind of High” and “I Hate Love,” which both feature on Chemistry (out June 23), on which she gets a little help from comedian and banjoist Steve Martin. “Having chemistry with someone is an incredible, and overwhelming, feeling,” she wrote on Instagram at the time she released “Favorite Kind of High.” “It’s like you have no choice in the matter. You are just drawn to each other. This can be good and bad. This album takes you down every path that chemistry could lead you down.”