Alicia Keys explained what sparked her fire when she sat down with The New York Times. The Grammy-winning songstress recalled the process of making her empowering female anthem “Girl on Fire,” which will appear on her upcoming album, due November 27. Once she had the concept, she called uponproducers Jeff Bhasker and Salaam Remi to find the right sound.

“A girl on fire is loud and obnoxious and destructive and just, like, totally unrelenting and she’s free,” said Alicia after Salaam played her a drum sample.

She took a seat at her glass piano and belted out an abridged version of her hit, stopping midway to question herself. “What I’m gonna ask myself is why I wrote this song so high,” she said. “‘Cause I didn’t even get to the chorus yet, and I’m asking myself what made me write this song so high.”

In the interview, the singer-songwriter also praised Frank Ocean’s pen game. “I really appreciate Frank Ocean’s lyrical style, I appreciate the way that he can kind of draw you into this personal space, but it’s still lyrical. It’s almost poetic, in a way, but it’s very personal at the same time.”

See Alicia burn up the keys with her stripped-downperformance.