Kelsea Ballerini simply dropped her newest album, Mount Nice, and followers are already laborious at work decoding the tales behind every monitor.
This EP is definitely her most susceptible but, providing a candid take a look at her previous, her relationships and her personal private progress.
Listed here are the most important takeaways from her most uncooked physique of labor thus far.
This Is Ballerini at Her Most Trustworthy
From the opening monitor, “I Sit In Parks,” Ballerini units the tone for an album steeped in vulnerability and honesty.
Her lyrics are unfiltered, uncooked, and deeply reflective as she explores the fragile steadiness between eager to develop into a mom and pursuing her profession — a rigidity many ladies navigate.
She captures that push-and-pull superbly within the tune’s most putting strains:
“Did I miss it? By now, is it
A lucid dream? Is it my fault
For chasing issues a physique clock
Doesn’t anticipate? I did the rattling tour
It’s what I wished, what I received
I spun round after which I ended
And marvel if I missed the mark”
It’s a second of pure honesty that units the emotional tone for all of the tracks that observe.
She Isn’t Afraid to Revisit Her Previous
On monitor 5, “The Revisionist,” the 32-year-old isn’t afraid to look backward — even when the recollections are messy, painful, or uncomfortable. She displays on every little thing from falling off a skateboard to having intercourse for the primary time earlier than she was prepared.
It’s Ballerini at her most introspective, confronting the moments she needs she may rewrite whereas acknowledging nonetheless, that every little thing she has gone via has formed her into the lady she is right now. Within the refrain, she sings:
“It’s a disgrace you may’t erase a foul determination
I’ve been studying into mine since ’93
Can’t outwrite it if it’s incorrect as soon as it’s written
Can’t rip out all of the pages ’bout you and me
It’s all in quotes
And that’s all she wrote, now, isn’t it?
I personal all of it
However I’d nonetheless prefer to name The Revisionist”
It’s a strong reminder that progress usually begins by sitting along with your previous — not operating from it.
“Individuals Pleaser” Is a True Anthem
One of many album’s standout tracks, “Individuals Pleaser,” is certain to develop into an anthem for anybody who struggles with boundaries or bending an excessive amount of for others. Within the first verse she sings:
“Leap within the water prefer it don’t matter, I’m terrified of sharks
I’ll purchase a portray, hold it and body it, I hate the artwork
Don’t lose my head whenever you simply neglect and depart me on ‘learn’
I used to be completed ingesting, you say ‘tequila’, I’ll purchase the photographs”
It’s uncooked, relatable, and virtually too painfully self-aware.
Even the Finest Relationships Are Sophisticated
Ballerini additionally opens up about love — the great elements and the hard-to-navigate ones.
Within the emotional piano-based ballad, “587,” she captures the bittersweet feeling of making an attempt to maneuver ahead whereas nonetheless glancing over your shoulder at what as soon as was:
“The place you at, child, the place you at?
‘Trigger I’m transferring ahead whereas I’m wanting again
Are your sheets nonetheless inexperienced? Are your songs nonetheless unhappy?
Is my lipstick nonetheless caught in your stemless wine glass? My unhealthy”
This monitor completely captures the bittersweet technique of letting go, concerning every little thing from shared tattoos — just like the matching Virgo tattoos Ballerini and Chase Stokes received collectively in 2023 — to lingering outdated habits.
Mates Matter
One other highly effective theme woven all through Mount Nice is the significance of friendship.
Ballerini reminds listeners to examine in on the individuals they love and to additionally bear in mind to examine in on themselves, too:
Within the final refrain, she sings:
“Test in your mates and your lovers, fathers and moms
Test on your self, okay?
All of us received the downers and uppers, yeah, all of us marvel
However it’s higher should you keep…”
It’s an emotional reminder that help programs matter, even (and particularly) once we attempt to cover our struggles from ourselves.
