All these years, I've been decidedly undecided on the topic of Kelly Clarkson. It's clear as day the girl can sing. I liked her well enough fresh off of "American Idol" with her somewhat generic, Adult Contemporary singles "A Moment Like This" and "Before Your Love," but since she gained an iota of control over her material, I've found her music to be ... one-noted. (New York magazine made note of this back in 2011.) Like P!nk (or does she just go by "Pink" now?), her songs are distinctive, but it's that distinctiveness that's made her music so dull and invariable.

I don't know how I stumbled upon "Don't Rush," but it's not a distinctively Kelly song in that it's not remotely screamy, it's not rock-driven pop, and it doesn't have that ever-present angsty beat. "Don't Rush," in fact, is a classic lazy weekend afternoon song, which means it's closer to acoustic folk than rock and utilizes lolling vocals that had my ears doing a double-take. Is that Colbie or Kelly?

[Side note: how do musicians capture the essence of a lazy weekend afternoon so very well? Rachael Yamagata's done it, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, Renee Olstead and hundreds of others before them. I'm not entirely convinced that there isn't some magic stardust out there that can stop time or, better yet, fast forward to the best part of the weekend.]

It's nice, once in a while, to be reminded of Kelly Clarkson's versatility as a singer and to see the shades of her emotional (and vocal) range. Plus, we get one extra day this weekend to enjoy. Happy Labor Day!