Kelsea

Kelsea (stylized in all lowercase) is the third studio album by American country artist Kelsea Ballerini. The album was released on March 20, 2020.[12] Kelsea debuted at numbers 2 and 12 on the Top Country Albums and Billboard 200 charts, respectively. It spawned five singles (three official and two promotional): "Homecoming Queen?", "The Other Girl", "Hole in the Bottle", "Club" and "LA".

Kelsea
Studio album by Kelsea Ballerini
Released	March 20, 2020
Recorded	2019
Studio	Various Sound Stage Studio (Nashville) The Robbins Nest (Nashville) Z Studio (Nashville) The Red Room (Nashville) Southern Ground Studios (Nashville) Spirit Music Nashville (Nashville) The Brown Owl (Nashville)
Genre	Pop[1][2][3] country[1][4]
Length	39:36
Label	Black River
Producer	Kelsea Ballerini Jimmy Robbins Ross Copperman Shane McAnally[5]
Kelsea Ballerini chronology
Unapologetically (2017) Kelsea (2020)
Singles from Kelsea
"Homecoming Queen?" Released: September 6, 2019 "The Other Girl" Released: April 20, 2020 "Hole in the Bottle" Released: May 27, 2020[6]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	71/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The Independent	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Spectrum Culture	3.25/5[11]

Background

Ballerini announced via Instagram in July 2019 that her third album was complete.[13] The album title and its release date were revealed on January 20, 2020.[14] The album's tracklist was revealed on February 27, 2020.[15]

Ballerini wrote or co-wrote all 13 tracks on the album. Two tracks have credited guest vocalists: "The Other Girl" is a duet with Halsey and "Half of My Hometown" features harmony vocals from Kenny Chesney.

Singles

The lead single of the album was "Homecoming Queen?" which was released on September 6, 2019.[16] Ballerini sang it at the 53rd Annual Country Music Association Awards in November.[17]

"The Other Girl" with American singer Halsey was released on April 20, 2020 as the album's second single.[18]

On February 28, 2020, "Hole in the Bottle" was released as a promotional single[15] but was later made an official single on May 27, 2020.[6]

Promotional singles

"Club" was released on November 8, 2019 as the album's first promotional single.[19] A music video was released two days later, on November 10, 2019. "LA", the album's second promotional single, was released on January 24, 2020.[14]

Track listing

Kelsea track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Overshare"	Kelsea Ballerini Jesse Frasure Josh Osborne Tayla Parx	2:50
2.	"Club"	Ballerini Nicolle Galyon Jimmy Robbins	3:01
3.	"Homecoming Queen?"	Ballerini Galyon Robbins	2:48
4.	"The Other Girl" (with Halsey)	Ballerini Ross Copperman Shane McAnally	3:21
5.	"Love Me Like a Girl"	Ballerini Copperman Lauren Grieve Hillary Lindsey Jordan Minton	2:57
6.	"Love and Hate"	Ballerini Copperman Ed Sheeran	2:58
7.	"Bragger"	Ballerini Copperman Galyon McAnally Robbins	2:46
8.	"Hole in the Bottle"	Ballerini Frasure Lindsey Ashley Gorley Steph Jones	2:36
9.	"Half of My Hometown" (featuring Kenny Chesney)	Ballerini Copperman Galyon McAnally Robbins	3:52
10.	"The Way I Used To"	Ballerini Jones Julian Bunetta Ian Kirkpatrick Samuel George Lewis Marcus Lomax Cass Lowe	3:15
11.	"Needy"	Ballerini Copperman Julia Michaels	3:12
12.	"A Country Song"	Ballerini Galyon Robbins	3:13
13.	"LA"	Ballerini	2:47

Notes

• All track titles are stylized in all lowercase.[20]

Personnel

Adapted from the Kelsea liner notes.[21]

Vocals

Kelsea Ballerini – background vocals (tracks 2, 4–7, 9-13) Megan Boardman – background vocals (track 2) Kelly Bolton – background vocals (track 2) Ross Copperman – background vocals (tracks 4-6), gang vocals (track 7) Tarryn Feldman – background vocals (track 2) Nicolle Galyon – background vocals (track 3), gang vocals (track 7)

Maggie Heintzman – background vocals (track 2) Hillary Lindsey – background vocals (tracks 5, 8) Julia Michaels – background vocals (track 11) Jensen Nicolaisen – background vocals (track 2) Tayla Parx – background vocals (track 1) Jimmy Robbins – background vocals (tracks 2, 3, 13), gang vocals (track 7)

Instruments

Tom Bukovac – electric guitar (track 4) Ross Copperman – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, keyboards Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar (track 4) Fred Eltringham – drums (track 4) Alicia Enstrom – violin (track 6) Mark Hill – bass guitar (track 4) Austin Hoke – cello (track 6) Charlie Judge – keyboards (track 1)

Chris Kimmerer – drums (track 12) Elizabeth Lamb – viola (track 6) Miles McPherson – drums (tracks 1, 8) Nir Z – drums (tracks 2, 11) Jimmy Robbins – acoustic guitar, banjo, bass guiar, electric guitar, mandolin Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar (tracks 1, 8) Kristin Weber – violin (track 6) Derek Wells – acoustic guitar, banjo, dobro, electric guitar (tracks 1, 5, 8, 12), pedal steel guitar (track 5)

Production

• Dan Grech-Marguerat – mixing, additional programming
• Luke Burgoyne – assistant engineer
• Charles Haydon Hicks – assistant engineer
• Josh Ditty – assistant engineer (tracks 1, 8)
• Kam Luchterhand – assistant engineer (track 6)
• Trey Keller – digital editing (tracks 4–7, 9, 10)
• Dave Kutch – mastering (Mastering Palace; New York, NY)

Imagery

• Ashley Kohorst – Art direction and design
• Peggy Sirota – photography

Charts

Sales chart performance for Kelsea

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22]	27
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[23]	23
Scottish Albums (OCC)[24]	14
UK Albums (OCC)[25]	84
UK Country Albums (OCC)[26]	2
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[27]	6
US Billboard 200[28]	12
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[29]	2
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[30]	2

References

1. "Kelsea Ballerini - kelsea album review". March 20, 2020.
2. Stefano, Angela. "Kelsea Ballerini's 'Kelsea': 5 Utterly Honest Songs". The Boot.
3. "Kelsea Ballerini New Album Review | Lyric Magazine".
4. "ALBUM REVIEW: Kelsea Ballerini - 'kelsea'". March 20, 2020.
5. "Kelsea Ballerini goes on a 'first-name basis' on third album". AP NEWS. March 18, 2020.
6. http://www.countryaircheck.com/pdfs/current052620.pdf
7. "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
8. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
9. Cudsi, Jake (March 20, 2020). "The Independent Review". The Independent. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
10. Bernstein, Jonathan (March 20, 2020). "Kelsea Ballerini Is Her Own Kind of Country on 'Kelsea'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
11. Cober-Lake, Justin (April 23, 2020). "Spectrum Culture Review". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
12. Freeman, Jon (January 23, 2020). "Kelsea Ballerini Sets Dates For New Album 'Kelsea'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
13. "Kelsea Ballerini's Third Studio Album is Officially Complete". www.iheart.com. July 29, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
14. "Kelsea Ballerini to Release Third Album, "Kelsea," on March 20 [Watch New "la" Video]". Nash Country Daily. January 23, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
15. Dukes, Billy. "Kelsea Ballerini Unveils Kenny Chesney, Halsey Duets". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
16. Hermanson, Wendy. "Kelsea Ballerini Cries in Raw 'Homecoming Queen?' Video [Watch]". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
17. "Kelsea Ballerini's 'Homecoming Queen' & 'Girl Crush' Performance at the CMA Awards 2019". Billboard. November 13, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
18. "Single Releases". MusicRow. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
19. Freeman, Jon (November 8, 2019). "Kelsea Ballerini Opts to Stay Home in Sleek New Song 'Club'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
20. "kelsea by Kelsea Ballerini on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
21. Kelsea (booklet). Kelsea Ballerini. Black River. 2020. BRE2020-04-CD.CS1 maint: others (link)
22. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
23. "The Weeknd Has This Week's No.1 Album". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
24. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
26. "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
27. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
28. "Kelsea Ballerini Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
29. "Kelsea Ballerini Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
30. "Kelsea Ballerini Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2020.