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Kelsea Ballerini opened up about the ups and downs of growing up and facing change, and turned her experiences into her new 15-track album, Subject To Change. The highly-anticipated project finally made its debut on Friday (September 23). It’s a collection of honest storytelling of the last two years of Ballerini’s life as she looks ahead to her next era.
It’s also packed with toe-tapping, ‘90s female country-inspired tracks like the “sassbomb” collab with Carly Pearce and Kelly Clarkson that’ll make listeners want to crank up the volume and hit the dance floor.
“When [Kelsea Ballerini] calls & asks you to be on a song with her & [Kelly Clarkson], you say DUH! Congrats on your album release, beautiful! So proud to be on this track!” Pearce exclaimed in a tweet on Friday morning.
Ballerini, who recently celebrated her 29th birthday, shared a heartfelt message on her social media channels as Subject To Change finally became available at midnight. She wrote: “if i’m honest, growing up it kinda hurts like hell…and for me, it sounds like this. internal observations, drunken conversations, diehard friendships, jumping in hopeful, owning the cringe, doing my best, discovering the good stuff isn’t always grandiose, falling on my face, being a show pony, taking inventory of what i have…and ultimately welcoming change when it comes. i’m proud of this record and the story it tells. here’s my last two years, and here’s the turning of a page.”
- Subject To Change
- The Little Things
- I Can’t Help Myself
- If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)
- Love Is A Cowboy
- Muscle Memory
- I Guess They Call It Fallin’
- Weather
- Universe
- Walk In The Park
- HEARTFIRST
- You’re Drunk, Go Home (feat: Carly Pearce, Kelly Clarkson)
- Doin’ My Best
- Marilyn
- What I Have
Ballerini’s fans will undoubtedly recognize some of her previously-released tracks, including “HEARTFIRST,” her tour’s namesake and the first song from the album that released in April. Ballerini explained at that time that she kicked off her new era with “HEARTFIRST” because “I feel like it just sets the tone for everything I’m working on right now. It’s very warm, very breezy-feeling, very settled. That’s kind of the tone of the whole project that I’m working on, and I feel like ‘HEARTFIRST’ was the first step into that new world.”
Others that quickly became fan-favorites include the heartache anthem “Love Is A Cowboy,” the ride-or-die tribute “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” and more. Now, listeners are picking out new favorites from the whole project, and Ballerini knows it’s widely relatable.
“I really want there to be something for everyone, which I know that's a cliché term, but if you're just experiencing growing up and the beauty of that, there's something for you. The messiness of that, there's a lot for you,” the award-winning singer-songwriter shared with PEOPLE, adding later that she aims to be transparent about every part of her life. “If you're experiencing love, there's something for you. If you're experiencing turmoil, there's something for you and everything in between. It's really a lot of self-discovery. And then within that, there's a lot of juxtaposition of dark and light on the journey it takes you through.”
Listen to some of the songs from Subject To Change below. Find the full album on iHeartRadio here.