Christina Aguilera makes Max LP

Jan 6, 2010, 13:04 GMT

Christina Aguilera's son inspired her new album.

The 'Beautiful' singer - who will release her fourth LP, 'Bionic', in March - says her sound has changed dramatically since she became a mother to her 23-month-old son Max.

She told Marie Claire magazine: "I had a really hard time being light before. I'd get a little weird about it being too cliched. My first record was very cliched pop - what everyone else wanted.

"'Stripped' was inspired by a lot of pain and 'Back to Basics' still had some sort of relation to my past.

"My new one is just about the future - my son in my life, motivating me to want to play and have fun.

"Things that maybe I've been afraid to do in the past, to allow myself to go to a place of 'less singing'. I'm more vulnerable and stronger at the same time."

It seems motherhood is now having a different effect Christina - who is married to music producer Jordan Bratman - since she started recording the LP.

In October, the 29-year-old pop star claimed it would be "unfair" if she changed her career or style just because she had a family.

Asked how becoming a mom had affected her attitude to work, she said: "As far as motherhood affecting me creatively goes - like, I shouldn't be wearing that because I'm a mom - it hasn't. That wouldn't be fair to me.

"It's important to keep a strong sense of yourself when you're a mom. You're still you."