If you saw any of Katharine McPhee‘s acting appearances in the past year (The House Bunny, CSI: NY), you might have almost forgotten about her singing career. With any luck, that will change in the next few months.

In the video above, the former American Idol finalist can be seen working on her upcoming album Unbroken. McPhee, who recently took a drastic turn to the blonde side (you can see a picture after the jump), says her lightened locks were a result of her new sound.

“My music is a little more edgy so that inspired me to be adventurous,” she explained to People magazine. “I’ve never dyed my hair before so this was a pretty drastic change. I’ve always been known as a brunette but I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and it kind of just fit with all of the searching with the music and experimenting that I would do the same thing with my look.”

Katharine’s latest single, “Had It All,” is now available on iTunes. Her sophomore album will get its release on October 6.