Keeping it private

Since releasing her last album of new material in 2002, Jennifer Lopez has been through one of the most scrutinized breakups and one of the most yakked-about marriages in recent showbiz history.

In case you’ve spent the past three years holed up in a monastery, the former was with a fellow actor, Ben Affleck, and the latter to a fellow singer, Marc Anthony.

As she unveils her new CD, “Rebirth,” which was released Tuesday, Lopez is loath to discuss either relationship.

“I was more open in the past, but I’ve learned a few lessons,” says the 35-year-old performer.

“I’ve always said that I wanted to remain the person that my parents raised and not to become this weird, reclusive type. But it’s a different game now. I’ve had to set some boundaries because of the way that the media has changed in the past few years. You have to protect yourself. That’s why I’d rather talk about myself in terms of what I do as an artist.”

That, of course, can mean making movies, dancing or designing clothes.

Lopez drew attention with the launch of a clothing label, Sweetface, during New York’s Fashion Week last month. The Sweetface Fashion Co., a joint venture of Lopez, Andy Hilfiger and Joe Lamastra, also sells Lopez’s JLO sportswear.

But at the moment, she’s most keen to discuss “Rebirth,” which features a guest appearance by Anthony. He also contributed to Lopez’s first album, 1999’s “On the 6,” as did her longtime creative partner and co-executive producer on “Rebirth,” pop-soul savant Cory Rooney.

“A lot of people who worked on the first album worked on this one, so it did feel like a new beginning,” Lopez says, explaining the title.

Other guests on the disc include Fat Joe and Fabolous.

The album-making process was different this time around, Lopez says.

“In the past, I would usually record 18 to 22 songs and then narrow it down,” she says. “This time I had grown more clear about what I wanted to do. I had been listening to older music – to the blues, to James Brown. It’s not like I just turned left and did something totally different, but I adapted the sound.”

Love, loyalty and friendship are among themes that pop up on the album. Asked whether her personal life informed the new songs, Lopez says, “You can’t help but draw on experiences that you’ve had, or that you’ve seen other people go through.

“But it’s more of an unconscious thing,” she adds. “You put in some of your thoughts and philosophies, but then I’ll just do a song about bad boys.”

Lopez wants to take her new songs from the studio to the concert stage and might try to do so this summer.

“I’ve been trying to plan a tour for years, but with doing movies, it’s a challenge,” she says.

She has two films coming up, both pairing her with Hollywood heavyweights: “Monster-in-Law,” in which Lopez butts heads and matches wits with Jane Fonda, due May 13; and “An Unfinished Life,” co-starring Robert Redford, which has no scheduled release date.

Ever the multitasker, she also is working on a Spanish-language CD she hopes to release this year. Anthony will be more involved in that project, co-producing with Latin tunesmith Estefano.

“It’s going to be almost all ballads, really beautiful,” Lopez says. “I’m not fluent in Spanish, so I’ll throw out a few words to tell them that this is what I want to say.

“It’s interesting working like that with two men, because sometimes they’ll come back to me with something, and I’ll be like, ‘No, a woman would say it like this.’ “

Not that Lopez is dismissing her husband’s romantic intuition or that of his collaborator: “When they write, it’s like poetry.”