Album Review: Patterns by Kelsea Ballerini
Clear out a drawer, clear out a shelf — Kelsea Ballerini’s got baggage, but she’s moving in!
Much like the title track of Kelsea Ballerini’s 5th studio album, I’ve got patterns too — I’ve been listening to and loving Ballerini’s music for a long, long time. She’s one of my all-time favorite artists, a voice I go back to time and time again, for a very good reason: she’s an emotional lyricist, a new-age singer songwriter who’s got a magical way of capturing and bottling those real-life feelings and turning them into a mix of happy, sad, and vulnerable songs that are personal, yet relatable all the same. It’s a very Taylor Swift-esque craft, that kind of honest, unapologetic storytelling in music.
Throughout the evolution of her (now extensive) discography, I’ve been lucky to see Ballerini perform as an opening act for several big-name touring artists: Keith Urban (2018), Jonas Brothers (2021), and Kenny Chesney (2023). Then, a few short weeks ago, I got to see her perform in Charlotte, NC, headlining her first ever arena tour (the best)! Of the many remarkable performances I’ve seen over the years (and there have been many), by far the best was getting to see my favorite KB song of all time — the cathartic Penthouse — not once, but twice. The first time, she performed a very raw, sad version on tour with Chesney in 2023, following the release of her widely successful, career-catapulting EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat; the second time, she performed the “healed version” to close out her headlining show. I’m so grateful I got to hear both versions two years apart — you could really hear and feel Ballerini embracing the energy of the crowd the second time around… I was in total awe. I know I’m a fan, and that makes me a little bit biased, but let me tell you one thing about the performer Kelsea Ballerini: she knows how to put on a show — she’s engaging, communicative, and fun watch, and her live vocals are always on point. If you’re not listening to and loving Ballerini’s music, what are you even doing?
Here’s what I love about the new album, Patterns:
Kelsea Ballerini knows she struck gold in a gold mine with Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, a collection of songs that illustrate her side of the story in her very public divorce from ex-husband Morgan Evans, a fellow country music singer. Instead of trying to create its carbon copy, Ballerini took a different approach for Patterns, creating a very therapeutic and reflective subset of songs that come from a place of having lived the healing journey. It’s an album that feels very much living-in-the-now — an album that walks the tightrope between looking back on past mistakes and balancing a new era of love and all that comes with mending a years-long heartbreak. There are songs that feel very introspective — Sorry Mom, First Rodeo — and there are songs that feel more empowering — Baggage, We Broke Up, This Time Last Year. The track list beautifully mixes a little bit of everything, and that’s something I really like in a musical project.
Backing up just a bit, I still remember listening to Rolling Up the Welcome Mat for the very first time. It was 4am Valentine’s Day 2023, and I was in Charlotte, NC on an overnight work trip. I couldn’t sleep, so I pulled up the newly released short film. Lying in bed at the crack of dawn, despite being in the happiest, loving, most committed relationship, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat made me feel so emotional — I wasn’t expecting such a gut-punching vulnerability from Ballerini. But she did it. The way Ballerini dumped her whole heart and soul into the EP, it showed. Not a single person could listen to those songs and not feel what she was feeling at that time.
Ballerini said many times that she released the music from Rolling Up the Welcome Mat to heal herself and others going through similar situations, and that she never really intended to play the EP live — until the world blew it up in a way she never imagined. The songs were all over TikTok, and Ballerini’s popularity soared. So many people were being introduced to Kelsea Ballerini’s talents for the very first time, you couldn’t help but root her on. She slowly integrated a few of the songs onto her Heartfirst Tour setlist, then performed Penthouse and Blindsided live on SNL. These live versions were ultimately the source inspiration for the deluxe version of the EP. Along with expanding Interlude and adding How Do I Do This, she swapped Penthouse with the live (“healed”) version and Blindsided with the “Yeah, sure, okay” version.
So yeah, the world’s been watching Kelsea Ballerini — watching to see what body of work would follow the acclaimed Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. And while I think anything coming off such a successful EP would struggle to top it, I truly believe Ballerini delivered exactly what was needed with Patterns. The best part of growth in artistry is that things aren’t supposed to stay the same. Same is boring. I believe we can celebrate what Rolling Up the Welcome Mat brought to the table, while also commending something entirely new. Maybe you think her deepest lyrics don’t live on Patterns (though I disagree — it’s some of her most mature songwriting to date). Maybe her experimental country-pop sound won’t be for everyone (like it is for me). But as a fan of the music, I like what I’m hearing, and for me, that’s all that really counts. And hearing the songs from this album come to life on the Patterns Tour really solidified my take that Kelsea Ballerini was made to sing her songs in the spotlight.
Here are my favorite lyrics from the songs on Patterns.
Patterns
“And maybe I'm the one to blame / For doing the same old same / But hey, what can I say? / I got patterns”
Sorry Mom
“Now, I turned out alright / And we both sleep good at night / I met a guy that we both like / And I got a house with a porch light / It's a different cloth we cut / But underneath we're the same blood / So I know it took a little tough love / To become the woman that you're proud of”
Baggage
“So, boy, I know the weight and gravity / Of keychains with same keys / But if you want that welcome mat, then roll it out with me, yeah”
First Rodeo
“Tell me that it’s gonna be alright / Even though we never know / If we’re gonna make it out alive / But when it comes to me and you, I can’t not try”
Nothing Really Matters
“Anyway, I was just thinking today / It’s kinda all about the memories you make, yeah / It’s kinda all about the love that you get and you give away”
How Much Do You Love Me
“If the meteor hit, babe, would you get / In your car and drive to me to cry with me? / If I went insane and didn’t know my name / Would you stay this side of me, reminding me? / If I gambled away my money, would you back away? / If my jokes weren’t funny, would you laugh? / How much do you love me? I gotta ask”
Two Things
“Two things can be true / I’ll love and hate you / I’ll be your best and your worst day / But you wouldn’t want it any other way, yeah”
We Broke Up
“We both could point our fingers / We’d both have one pointing back / Yeah, we could let the goodbye linger / But, baby, what’s the good in that? / ‘Cause there isn’t, and it is what it is, okay? / No use in digging up bones from the grave / When it’s over, it’s over, it’s over”
WAIT!
“If I drive you away, will it cut like a blade? / Will it carry the same / Weight? / At the end of the day, I’m a girl / I’m afraid, turn around, hit the brakes”
Beg For Your Love
“Asking you to say it back, it / It shouldn’t have to be like that / So help me, help you, help us / And don’t make me say I’m done / I ain’t gonna beg for your love”
Deep
“If loving you is an ocean / Then I’m in deep”
Cowboys Cry Too (with Noah Kahan)
“But I’ve burned too many miles tryna ride out all the sadness / But you can’t outdrive pain, someday it’s gonna take the wheel”
I Would, Would You
“Life is short, life is long, but it’s better with you here / If somebody does you wrong, baby, hold my beer / ‘Cause that’s just what you do when you love someone / Yeah, that’s the choice you choose when you love someone” and “No conditions, I'd follow you to the moon, no suit / I would, would you?”
This Time Last Year
“People thinking that I’ve changed / They used to be my biggest fear, my biggest fear / Thank God that I changed / From this time, last year / ‘Cause this time, last year / I gave hell a piece of my mind / It gave me a hit to my pride”
Did You Make It Home? (outro)
“Is it where prayers go when you pray ‘em / Is it the turning of the page? / I’m thinking of you as you go / Did you make it home?
As Ballerini just released a deluxe version of Patterns this past week, I wanted to say this: some deluxe albums tend to feel very b-side; however, for Patterns, I think the 5-track deluxe made the album feel “finished”. Every song feels right and necessary, and Hindsight Is Happiness is probably the best kind of closing song Ballerini could have released to bookend an important body of work at such a pivotal time in her life and career. The deluxe shows the listener that she’s done the reflecting and can acknowledge a moment for what it was — fleeting, yet a moment all the same. Like once upon a time, there was happiness. Hindsight is always 2020, but the best you can do in life is to keep marching forward. That’s my takeaway from Patterns and subsequently Patterns (Deluxe).
Adding my favorite lyrics from the songs on Patterns (Deluxe).
To The Men That Love Women After Heartbreak
“To the men that love women after heartbreak / To the hellos that come after goodbyes / To the rain that was falling but watered the garden / And the ones that bring the flowers back to life”
Future Tripping
“All best laid plans, I understand / Are still out of our hands and only hourglass sand” and the last chorus “Future trippin' / If I blink, will I miss it? I'm death-grippin' / So crystal ball, what's the vision? / I wish it was romantic, all the things we don't know / But it has me pushin' panic so we're taking it slow / 'Cause now the future's inchin' / And I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it”
Put It To Bed
“All I wanna do is be all over you, I'm overzealous / For some things I shouldn't mention / And honestly, baby, I need attention”
Cut Me Up
“If there comes a day, the end of us / Deeper than a break, that's the damage done / If me and you were breakin' up / I'd be okay, but it'd cut me up / If you've got a blade, then sharpen it / If we go goodbye, just make it quick / If me and you fell out of love / I'd be okay, but it'd cut me up”
Hindsight Is Happiness
“Time tells your present to forgive / And I give credit to getting older” and “You can’t rewrite the past, but you can learn from it”
It’s been so much fun to see the rest of the world fall in love with Ballerini the way I have, but HOW it took so long for people to jump on the Ballerini bandwagon, I’ll never understand. But I’m so happy to see her get her flowers — they’re more than deserved.
Are you a fan of Kelsea Ballerini? What are your favorite songs from Patterns?
PS — A few moments from the Patterns Tour I loved the most (hard to pick favorites when I loved the whole thing, but we persist):
Baggage — singing “F*ck the old house at the dead end”
IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO) — singing ““Hypothetically” if you ever kill your husband” with my husband haha, also “Even if I wanted to I can’t snitch (b*tch!) — IYKYK
Miss Me More — visuals on point
We Broke Up — singing “Another guy driving off mad in a black truck”
Two Things — hearing the crowd singing “Couldn’t get to Carolina quick enough” because well, Carolina!
Mountain With A View — again, visuals were great
WAIT! — the surprise repeat of the bridge (my favorite part of the song)
I Would, Would You — singing “No conditions, I’d follow you to the moon, no suit”
Penthouse — singing “A backyard for Dibs” and “Now I don’t care where you’re sleeping baby”
PPS — I originally wrote this post in October when the Patterns album first came out, but I never hit publish. Since then, I’ve revised it twice because I saw KB perform the Patterns Tour live, then procrastinated publishing again until boom! there was a deluxe version! This post, version 3, is my personal favorite. I’m glad I gave my thoughts time to marinate — it made me appreciate Patterns even more.
Enjoy!
JBW