It has been over a year and a half since Mariah Carey put out her last single, “I Don’t,” but it looks like she’s on the way for a full return.

Carey has currently added more dates on her continuation of  her “The Butterfly Returns” residency at Caesars Palace, going into 2019. Carey spoke with PEOPLE to discuss her upcoming music and more.

“I’ve been working on my new album for a while,” Carey stated. “This is a labor of love and I’m really excited. This is me at this moment in my life being able to express myself as a writer and a singer. I’m just really in a good place.” Carey continues to say that although the album will be “current,” she is not trying to follow “anybody else’s trends.”

Carey has always been a trendsetter, being one of the main pioneers bridging Hip-Hop and Pop, so it will be interesting to see how she will maintain continue her musical legacy in the age of music today. Carey, however, will produce another great body of work if “I Don’t” is any indication.

“My fans just want to hear me express myself and speak from the heart and sing from the heart,” says Carey, who will be performing her first leg of the residency through Sept. 10. “Some of the record is lighthearted and fun, and some [songs] I really went deep in terms of the lyrical content. There’s a nice cross-section of things.”