Courtesy of Black River Entertainment

One of the biggest names in country music, Kelsea Ballerini, released her fifth full-length album “Patterns” on Friday, Oct. 25, telling her Instagram followers, “I’ve never felt so free and human making an album.” The 31-year-old star announced three days prior to the album release that she will begin her first area tour in 2025, leading fans rushing to register for early access to tickets. The tour begins Jan. 21 in Michigan and concludes March 30 in Colorado, with her making a singular Texas stop at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Feb. 26.

In early August, Ballerini gave fans a three-track teaser to what would be on “Patterns,” ironically titled “Two Things.” The three tracks included “Two Things,” “Sorry Mom” and “Cowboys Cry Too (with Noah Kahan)” that left fans distressed as they had to wait another two months for the full 15-track album to be released.

The title track “Patterns” is one of the longer songs on the album as Ballerini covers a relationship pattern she’s seen throughout her 31 years with the lyrics, “‘I love you’ to ‘Goodbye.’” Heartbreak is a theme within this album, but the title track serves it all wrapped up in a 3:40 long upbeat song. A cheerful melody, yet deep lyrics isn’t anything new for Ballerini as she is easily one of the best in country music to create bittersweet music. She continuously asks herself throughout the song, “Is this a battle that I’ll ever win?” hoping her current relationship with Outer Banks star Chase Stokes won’t end like the rest of them.

One of the most touching songs, “Sorry Mom,” is exactly what it sounds like – an apology song dedicated to her mom, Carla. Ballerini opens the song with an acoustic intro that emphasizes her opening up about the hardships her and her mom had. She covers the choices she made – dropping out of college to pursue music, not sticking to the Bible, smoking cigarettes and missing her mom’s 58th birthday to go on tour. At the end of the guitar-based song, she actively reassures her mom she turned out alright and that “It took a little tough love to become the woman that you’re proud of,” repeating the phrase “Sorry, Mom” six times throughout the 3:35 long track.

Displayed on Ballerini’s unique album cover is a mountain of physical baggage, but the kind she discusses in the track “Baggage” is a mental kind, pointing to her past long-lasting lover. In 2022, Ballerini divorced her husband, Morgan Evans, after less than five years of marriage. In early 2023, Ballerini began dating Stokes and the two have recently moved in together, carrying their baggage with them. “Baggage” is easily one of the most romantic songs on the album, from the upbeat production and expressing “I wouldn’t wanna do it with anybody else,” singing about Stokes. 

Possibly the most hyped track is “Cowboys Cry Too (with Noah Kahan)” due to it being a major hit with both Ballerini and Kahan fans at its release back in August. The duo’s unexpected musical chemistry is goosebump-inducing as you hear them harmonize together for the first time halfway through the song. Even with the duo’s beautiful harmony, the message of the song is almost even more touching: everyone cries no matter what personality they’re displaying for other people’s pleasure. As Kahan and Ballerini emphasize throughout the song and the title tells you, cowboys cry too, but letting people in to see true emotions is even stronger than keeping it hidden in your cowboy hat.

A trip down nostalgia lane for Ballerini is “This Time Last Year,” reminiscing on her life 365 days ago, proudly exclaiming she’s “shooting her shot” and “standing her ground,” unlike the closeted Kelsea one-year-ago. Although she sings about having “lost a couple friends, untied a couple loose ends,” the catchy beat along with her confident and iconic tone conveys she believes the journey has all been worth it as “it’s all part of shedding old skin and starting again.” The assertive lyrics gives this track an amazing idea of what growth is, along with the unique tune of it wraps it all together into the perfect confidence song to empower anyone.

Ballerini has never made an outro to an album before, so seeing “Did You Make It Home? (outro)” at the end of the album intrigued fans tremendously. The less than one minute long track is full of questions potentially about ex-husband Evans’ life without her since their split, asking “Is it a person or a change?” and “Are you safe on the road you chose?” Ballerini makes her first outro on this album is not unexpected, as she told her Instagram followers “PATTERNS marks the end of my saturn return” that is essentially a coming-of-age moment in a someone’s life, hinting she’s officially done focusing on the past and looking at her future with Stokes.

Undeniably, “Patterns” was a smashing success. The variety of hidden and not-so hidden messages in the songs and the unexpected feature from star Noah Kahan, she surpassed all expectations expeditiously. Kelsea Ballerini’s fifth full-length album deserves a 10 out of 10.