Kelsea Ballerini Jumps in “HEARTFIRST” on Brand New Single

Kelsea Ballerini’s new single “HEARTFIRST” is out now, April 8th, on all streaming platforms. Listen to the brand new track below.

Although it has been a little while since we have heard new music from the artist, Ballerini is still enjoying the successes of her album kelsea, including a CMT nomination for Video of the Year for “Half of My Hometown” featuring Kenny Chesney at this year’s CMT Awards, coming up this Monday, April 11th. 

Ballerini opened up recently to fans on her socials about the journey of kelsea and what that chapter of her life meant to her. On the two-year anniversary of its release, the artist shared that the journey of this album was one that didn’t start off the way she had envisioned it. As its release fell on the same week that the world shut down during the worldwide COVID 19 pandemic, the circumstances made her disconnect from the project, feeling like she had lost all of what she had hoped the album would become. She shared: “I spent the first few months of its life grieving the loss of what I had hoped we’d share together, and wondering if and how creatively I would bounce back.” 

She goes on to speak on how her fans still showed up for her and the album, making it “the record and ‘era’ that (she’s) the most proud of.” Despite the record having two radio number ones ( “Half of My Hometown” and “Hole in the Bottle” ), two gold and two platinum songs on it, she shares what she feels is much more important when it comes to this record is that “It taught me patience, humility, and to welcome the unexpected. To loosen up on my grip on what it is I think is going to happen, and just enjoy the ride while I’m on it.” It is this same risk-taking and ‘glass half full’ attitude that shines through in “HEARTFIRST”. 

With this ‘happy birthday’ post, the artist officially marked the end of the kelsea chapter. And when one chapter ends, another one begins and we now know that “HEARTFIRST” is the start of the next chapter for the artist. Highlighting an incredible take on life, and an important lesson that we have all learned over the last couple of years “HEARTFIRST” is all about living life in the moment, not worrying about outcomes or all the ‘what ifs’, and taking everything as it comes. 

Written by Alyssa Vanderheym, Karen Fairchild, and Ballerini and produced by Julian Bunetta and Shane McAnally, “HEARTFIRST” is a beautiful outlook on life that perhaps we all can try to factor into our own lives a little bit more. 

“Could be forever or we might break // That’s just the kind of risk that we take // My head is yelling that I could get hurt // But I’m gonna jump right in, baby with my heart first”

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“HEARTFIRST” is now available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.