page_title: Piece by Piece (Kelly Clarkson album)
section_title: Background and recording
hierarchical_section_title: Piece by Piece (Kelly Clarkson album) / Background and recording
caption_attribution_description: English: Sia performs on August 17, 2011 at the Showbox at the Market in Seattle, Washington
context_page_description: Piece by Piece is the seventh studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It was released on February 27, 2015, by RCA Records. It was her final album under her recording contract with the label, to which she signed after winning the first season of American Idol in 2002. She then made the switch to Atlantic in 2016. The album saw Clarkson reuniting with frequent collaborators Greg Kurstin, Jesse Shatkin, Jason Halbert, Eric Olson, and Chris DeStefano. She also gathered material from songwriters such as Sia, Matthew Koma, MoZella, Bonnie McKee, David Jost, Semi Precious Weapons lead singer Justin Tranter, and former Cobra Starship member Ryland Blackinton, among others. Inspired by the orchestral production on Wrapped in Red, Clarkson wanted all the songs on Piece by Piece to resonate like its own film soundtrack, taking a cue from the soundtracks of the feature motion pictures Cruel Intentions and Love Actually and commissioning orchestral arrangements by Joseph Trapanese.
  Piece by Piece is illustrated as a concept record telling a single story, using themes of heartbreak, personal struggles, peace, and empowerment.
context_section_description: In 2013, Clarkson released her first Christmas album, Wrapped in Red, which to her represented a beginning for a second phase for her career. In the midst of recording it, she also collaborated with recording artists Robbie Williams, Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood in their respective albums Swings Both Ways (2013), Everlasting (2014) and PrizeFighter: Hit After Hit (2014). In an interview with Billboard magazine, she announced intentions to release a set of pop and country records, as well as a potential Broadway album, as a follow-up to Wrapped in Red. RCA Records chief executive Peter Edge also revealed in their 2014 mid-year assessment that they were in a process of finding new music and directions for some of their established acts – primarily with Clarkson. Early stages of development for a follow-up studio album began as early as June 2012, with Clarkson commissioning Rodney Jerkins in recording a potential track. She remarked: "We're already working. I'm constantly like that because you never know when you're going to find a song and so we're always working on the next thing." The follow-up album would complete the terms of her recording contract with RCA Records and 19 Recordings, which was signed following her win on the first season of the television competition American Idol in 2002.
  Recording sessions for Piece by Piece began while Clarkson was in the midst of the 2013 Honda Civic Tour with Maroon 5 and continuing on while being pregnant with her first child. During its production, Clarkson had amassed over twenty songs for her to record. Some of the production team behind Wrapped in Red also returned on Piece by Piece. They were led by Greg Kurstin, whom Clarkson had first commissioned for Stronger. Jesse Shatkin, who had first worked as an engineer under Kurstin on Clarkson's last two studio albums, revealed that he had produced a couple tracks on the record. He described the transition into a more creative role as "especially poignant". Sia, who was also a frequent collaborator of Kurstin and Shatkin, announced intentions to submit recording material to Clarkson. Joseph Trapanese, who conducted arrangements in Wrapped in Red, later confirmed that he had finished arranging and recording five of the album's songs with a full philharmonic orchestra.
caption: Sia (pictured) co-wrote both the first song and the last track recorded for Piece by Piece, the former being co-written with Greg Kurstin, while the latter being co-written with Jesse Shatkin.[2][3]
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