Kelsea Ballerini’s New Album ‘Patterns’ Features An Honest Journey Of Love And Personal Growth

With her previous project, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, Kelsea Ballerini got more vulnerable with fans than ever before as she documented the stages of grief from her recent divorce. She has since found love again with Outerbanks star, Chase Stokes, and although she appears to be in a new era of happiness, fans may be surprised to learn that her just-released album, Patterns, isn’t a collection of joy-filled love songs. 

The songstress has admittedly never been a big fan of tender tunes of the heart, as we learned from her 2018 single, “I Hate Love Songs.” While that still seems to be the case for Ballerini, her fifth studio album does touch on love, just in a more realistic fashion. And that doesn’t just include her journey with romantic relationships, but also with friends, family and most importantly, herself. 

“I feel like this record, in particular, coming off of ‘Rolling Up The Welcome Mat,’ I felt like there were probably some ideas that might be very mushy, gushy, heart-eye emoji, that it would be much more pop-leaning, all that kind of stuff. And I was really intentional about making it honest, definitely love-filled, but honest love and the nuance of love,” Ballerini explained during her recent appearance on the TODAY Show. 

Embarking On A Journey Of Self-Assessment

Upon turning 30 years old on September 12, 2023, Kelsea Ballerini decided it was time to take an assessment of her life. Through some inner work, she found herself asking the following questions: “What in my life right now do I love? What feels uncomfortable? What have I contributed to both of those things? What are my patterns? And then what do I want to work on and edit on myself? And then in my closest, most interpersonal relationships, what do I want to edit and challenge and celebrate also?’” she told PEOPLE. 

Thus became Patterns, a 15-song collection that makes Ballerini feel almost as if she’s “naked” because of how exposed her emotions are in every tune. She recruited an all-girl crew to help bring her story to life from beginning to end, including producer and longtime collaborator Alysa Vanderheym, Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee Hillary Lindsey, GRAMMY Songwriter of the Year nominee Jessie Jo Dillon and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild. 

On their first retreat together, these women penned the tracks “Sorry Mom,” “Baggage” and “Two Things.” They continued to dig into Ballerini’s different relational habits and unhealthy “Patterns,” such as her desire to run away from things and people in life as soon as it becomes scary instead of confronting whatever she is fearful of.  The Tennessee native came to the realization that she is her own worst enemy in these instances and has spent many hours working to overcome this side of her. 

“I’ve realized that that really doesn’t serve me, and sometimes the best thing that can happen for a friendship or a relationship or an opportunity is to have the hard conversations and work through a turmoil moment,” Ballerini explained in her exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “When you come out on the other side of that, there’s so much beauty in that, and there’s so much mutual respect of that fight for each other. And I think that’s, in my personal life, a thing that I’m really proud of finally tackling.”

Taking A Hard Look At Love

Listeners hear her admitting to this realization and taking a big step into newfound maturity and growth on the track “Baggage.” This is followed by “First Rodeo,” the first love song Ballerini wrote for her boyfriend on this record. 

“It’s the first song where it’s kinda like, Okay, I feel a little fragile I feel a little scared to open myself up to the capacity that I want to, but I love love,” she shared on the TODAY Show. 

As the story continues, it’s clear that her new relationship, although looking perfect on social media, has had a few bumps along the way. This is evident in the vulnerable tunes “Two Things,” “We Broke Up” and “WAIT!,” which find Ballerini encountering another set of patterns in relationships that leads her to develop a strong desire to change for this person. 

The strong wave of love comes back into play with “Deep” and Ballerini starts to showcase pride for how far she’s come in her journey of self-assessment in “This Time Last Year” before closing out the project with her 59-second outro, “Did You Make It Home?”

Along the way, she also celebrates the beautiful of female friendship on “I Would, Would You?” uncovers a new sense of freedom in “Nothing Really Matters” and explains that it’s okay for everyone to breakdown their walls every now and then on the CMA nominated tune, “Cowboys Cry Too” (with Noah Kahan).

Sonically, the singer/songwriter made a point to not hone in on any specific genre that fits into one box on this record, but instead to just make a project that was “really musical.”

Sold-Out Madison Square Garden And Just-Announced Arena Tour

Kelsea Ballerini will celebrate the release of PATTERNS with a one-night-only, sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden on October 29. Then beginning January 21, 2025, she will kick off her three-month arena tour KELSEA BALLERINI LIVE ON TOUR. The 30-city trek will feature special guests, Maisie Peters and MaRynn Taylor.

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“This ain’t my first rodeo (but it IS my first arena tour!!!!!!),” the 31-year-old shared on Instagram. “I genuinely can’t wait to be back on the road with you in 2025 and sing our lil hearts out together.”

Fans can also catch Ballerini serving as a coach on Season 27 of NBC’s The Voice, premiering next Spring.