With long blonde tresses framing her face, her bronzed, lithe body poised and steely gaze in place, Carrie Underwood cuts the perfect superstar figure on the cover of her new album, Blown Away.

Winner of 2005’s American Idol, Underwood was every pop-star manufacturer’s dream – the only difference was she had that voice, which saw her win five Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards and five Country Music Awards – making her officially pop-country royalty.

She celebrated by opting for marriage over paparazzi and parties and let her voice do the talking.

“It’s all about who has real talent. Maybe those that can’t bring the goods have to shock you or have a wardrobe malfunction – I don’t ever want to be seen like that,” she explains.

“I’d like to stand still and sing and I’d happily do it in my sweatpants.”

Underwood however, swapped her sweats for six-inch heels for the album and loved channeling her inner goddess.

“This album has really strong female anthems and it was great to take the liberty to be fierce,” she explains.

Armed with tracks that feature “darker storylines”, like “Good Girl”, Underwood says: “I wasn’t trying to inject powerful ballads here or there. The album wrote itself in a completely organic way. There isn’t a magic formula that guarantees you’ll sell millions of records.” How has she done it so far? “I just got lucky I guess.”

Blown Away is out now.