With the release of her self-titled third album, Kelsea Ballerini is as emotionally raw as we’ve ever heard her. But that doesn’t mean this collection is full of ballads. She finds a way to juxtapose topics like anxiety and heartbreak with upbeat production so that the entire album isn’t depressing. She walks the line between country and pop as she’s done her entire career, but still comes off as authentic in both genres. And part of the reason she is authentic is because, as with her first two albums, she co-wrote every song.
Ballerini didn’t rest on the emotional resonance of lead single ‘homecoming queen?,’ instead making sure that every song was important. Upcoming CMT Crossroads collaborator Halsey makes a guest appearance on one of the more interesting songs ‘the other girl.’ Like a modern day ‘Does He Love You,’ this pop-leaning tune finds both women empathizing with the other woman that their man has been sleeping with. She brings it back home on ‘a country song,’ an ode to her Tennessee upbringing. Realizing that when times are hard, her safe place will always be country music.
Kelsea creatively decided to make every song title and even the album title in lowercase letters. She’s letting the music speak for itself and it shows. To listen to kelsea in its entirety, click here.
