Kelsea Ballerini and LANY joined forces on a brand new song, “I Quit Drinking”. Available now, June 9th, on all streaming platforms, take a look below as we dig a little deeper into the new song.

Photo by John Shearer / Getty Images for CMT

Kelsea Ballerini has been pushing the genre envelope for as long as she has been making music, and her newest collaboration is no exception. Now bridging the gap between country and indie is “I Quit Drinking” with dream-pop band LANY.

“I Quit Drinking” was written by Ballerini, Paul Jason Klein (frontman of LANY), and Nicolle Galyon – a natural write as the trio are in overlapping songwriting circles, but this was the first time the three of them had ever written together. Their sounds have always felt complimentary, but meshing indie and country is definitely new territory.

The mid-tempo track starts with a floaty piano that accompanies Ballerini’s smooth voice. In the first verse and chorus, she describes her old life-of-the-party ways and how they’ve changed since breaking up.

“wasn’t alcohol keeping us up ‘til the sun came around // thought we’d stay drunk forever but now // you’re the reason there’s no whiskey anywhere in this house” 

Essentially, without each other in their life, there is no reason to drink anymore because it will just lead to missing someone you can’t have. Klein joins in gently on the second verse, with Ballerini harmonizing later on. Clearminded, he sings “waking up sober, it feels kinda nice // except that I can’t sleep at night”. As much as he needed to change, he longs for the lazy mornings and hungover memories, even if it just leads to him being in a hungover state over his ex.

The production of the song is truly an equal mesh of country and pop, as it is produced by Jimmy Robbins (Kelsea Ballerini, Maddie & Tae) and Noah Conrad (LANY, Niall Horan). Ballerini and Klein premiered the song at the CMT Awards (which Ballerini co-hosted), and afterward, she also accepted an award for her collaboration during last year’s CMTs with Halsey.

“You know where my roots are and you know who I am… but this tells me that you hear music as music, and tells me that you love when people push boundaries and explore artistry,” she tells fans. Based on Ballerini’s whole catalog, including “I Quit Drinking” she is successfully bending the definition of country music while staying true to its most important rule: three chords and the truth.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about upcoming Kelsea Ballerini announcements and releases.