Kelsea Ballerini- Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Label: Black River
Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym
Folks, Kelsea Ballerini is riding quite the beautiful artistic crest at the present moment. Already enjoying the success of her most recent LP, the plum-perfect peak moment of her brand of country-pop to date, she fittingly dropped this stunning conceptual EP on Valentine’s Day. A seamless foray into rainy day, sad-girl pop, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat excavates every gloomy, gripping detail of her recent divorce in a no-holds-barred fashion that was only merely hinted at on Subject to Change. It reads like a confessional diary and chronological timeline of the emotions that the artist faced as she grappled with throughout a year of marital discourse, from the early warning signs of disintegration through the final split. Further complimenting the release is the short-form film that covers all six tracks, a visual achievement that ranks among one of the most remarkable in the music video medium (yes, that’s still a thing) in recent memory. From the emotional emptiness of “Just Married” to the brutal reality-check of “Penthouse” to the unbridled bitterness of “Blindsided”, this project is another impressive evolution for Ballerini across all categories: vocally, sonically, thematically, and lyrically. She’s becoming one of my favorites to watch.
Track Listing:
- “Mountain With A View” (Kelsea Ballerini)
- “Just Married” (Ballerini)
- “Penthouse” (Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym)
- “Interlude” (Ballerini, Vanderheym)
- “Blindsided” (Ballerini, Vanderheym)
- “Leave Me Again” (Ballerini)
The 706 
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