Alicia Keys felt like a "caged lion" before starting new album Girl on Fire.

The "New Day" singer had lots of tension built up inside her before she started work on her fifth record, which she is now releasing in the studio. "I'm in the studio right now working away on my new album and I am SO excited!!! I'm ignited!!! I'm like a match to a flame! Before making this record, in some ways I felt like a lion locked in a cage... I felt like a girl misunderstood that no one really knew, I felt like it was time to stop making excuses for any part of my life that I wanted to change. Once I made that choice I became a Girl on Fire, the lion broke free!! (sic)" she wrote on her site.

Alicia mostly recorded the album in her hometown, New York, but traveled to other locations to meet with collaborators. "During the recording process, I mostly stayed in NY but on some cool and memorable occasions, I traveled to different places, and worked with many collaborators, (some old friends, some new).

"I discovered so many beautiful sounds, and meanings and a lot about the power of a song. Girl on Fire is about new beginnings, new perspectives and fresh starts... stripping away all the bad energy in your life and taking full control of the reigns and how you want to live (sic)," she added.

Alicia will debut a new song from Girl on Fire when she performs at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.