New Album Review: Kelsea Ballerini- Subject to Change

Kelsea Ballerini- Subject to Change

Label: Black River

Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Shane McAnally, Julian Bunetta, Jesse Frasure & Alysa Vanderheym

Since emerging on the mainstream country scene in 2014, Kelsea Ballerini has progressively grown into one of the genre’s most reliable female voices, both commercially and artistically. Mirroring a trajectory not unlike Taylor Swift’s country days, her first pair of albums found her navigating the rollercoaster emotions of love in your late teens and early twenties, with her 2020 third album Kelsea proving to exhibit her greatest growth yet as a confessional young songwriter. With the arrival of Subject to Change, it’s likewise not unreasonable to parallel this to Swift’s fourth blockbuster, Red, in that it finds Ballerini officially unveiling a voice, style, and narrative that are finally fully-formed. She sounds as confidently nimble and convicted in her sound as she ever has. As the title implies, it’s an LP crafted in the midst of life’s turbulence. Some of this is as a result of the year 2020 and the dark cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others stem from a young lady being faced with a slew of personal upheavals, be it the crumbling of a marriage or the overall challenge to find a place in an increasingly complicated world. Ballerini addresses all of this with impressive honesty (“Weather”, “Love Is a Cowboy”), gratitude (“What I Have”, “Heartfirst”) , perseverance (the title track, “Doin’ My Best”), and above all, a positive outlook that makes time for fun and camaraderie (“If You Go Down” and “You’re Drunk, Go Home” with Carly Pearce and Kelly Clarkson) in between as well. Sonically, she’s arrived at a splendid country-pop sweet spot that sounds as authentic and balanced as any Nashville crossover of the past two decades. And it’s further complimented by both a physical and compositional voice that is a joy to hear so wholly realized. Without question, Subject to Change is an artistic breakthrough for Ballerini in every possible way.

Track Listing:

1. “Subject to Change” (Kelsea Ballerini, Karen Fairchild, Alysa Vanderheym)
2. “The Little Things” (Ballerini, Vanderheym, Ashley Gorley, Cary Barlowe)
3. “I Can’t Help Myself” (Ballerini, Shane McAnally, Julia Bunetta, Josh Osborne)
4. “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” (Ballerini, McAnally, Bunetta)
5. “Love Is A Cowboy” (Ballerini, Jess Frasure, Park Welling)
6. “Muscle Memory” (Ballerini, McAnally, Bunetta)
7. “I Guess They Call It Fallin'” (Ballerini, McAnally, Bunetta, Vanderheym, Miranda Glory, Jordan Shellheart)
8. “Weather” (Ballerini, Vanderheym)
9. “Universe” (Ballerini, Vanderheym)
10. “Walk in the Park” (Ballerini, McAnally, Jimmy Robbins)
11. “Heartfirst” (Ballerini, Fairchild, Vanderheym)
12. “You’re Drunk, Go Home” featuring Kelly Clarkson and Carly Pearce (Ballerini, McAnally, Bunetta)
13. “Doin’ My Best” (Ballerini, Vanderheym)
14. “Marilyn” (Ballerini)
15. “What I Have” (Ballerini, Vanderhym, Barlowe)