I just realized, a lot of people don't hear the words 'good job.' Nobody's sitting there telling them, look, just waking up again and putting one foot in front of the other is a good job. And it was really for people like my mother, people like you, people like my dearest friends, who really work so hard to keep it all going together, and a lot of times wake up and just feel like, 'I'm not even doing it right.' I mean, that's the part that I think has been the most fascinating to me: I wrote that song almost a year ago, when no one would have ever in a million years imagined that the world would be the way that it is now. When I first heard it I was like, 'Oh, she's speaking to me.' And then I realized, oh, right - obviously, there are health care workers and other people in far more intense positions. The most obvious example might be 'Good Job,' which is a kind of message of encouragement to people who are struggling. One of the things I think is excellent about this album is the way that it's speaking to the moment everyone's in. One of the ones I'm thinking of now, that's a favorite for me, is called 'Authors of Forever.' What I really love about this song is, it goes on to talk about how we're 'builders' and we're 'breakers,' and we're 'givers' and we're 'takers.' I think that at one point in my life I was like, well, why do there have to be any takers - why can't it just be builders? Why does it have to be any breakers - why can't it just be givers? And I realized that you have to have all these sides. Is there a song on this album that speaks to this idea that you're talking about? And I've been really personally interested in going even deeper than that - and getting to know the parts that I'm not comfortable connecting with as readily as the parts that I am. We all have many sides to us, and I think in a lot of ways we get used to only showing a particular side, or one version. I think for people who already describe your music that way, why do you think this one is?ДЄlicia Keys: I just feel like I have gotten to know myself much better than I ever did before. Hear their conversation at the audio link, and read on for an edited transcript.ДЄudie Cornish: I've heard you describe this album as some of your most truthful, most authentic music. In the middle of a jam-packed day promoting her new music - so much so that her side of the conversation had to be recorded while riding in a moving car - she spoke with NPR's Audie Cornish about singing to this particular moment.

Keys has a new album out today, her seventh in a storied career, simply titled Alicia. How do you make pop music that means anything in the middle of a pandemic and civil unrest? How do you deliver that music to your fans when they can't come to see you, when you can't sing to them in person? At the moment, Alicia Keys is an expert on the topic.

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