Kelsea Ballerini – Rolling Up The Welcome Mat

[Juan Carlos]

Kelsea Ballerini's upcoming EP and short film Rolling Up The Welcome Mat will be out at midnight EST tonight.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Comu-Zouirf

Tracklisting:

1. "Mountain with a View" (Written by Kelsea Ballerini • Produced by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym)
2. "Just Married" (Written by Kelsea Ballerini • Produced by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym)
3. "Penthouse" (Written by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym • Produced by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym)
4. "Interlude" (Written by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym • Produced by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym)
5. "Blindsided" (Written by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym • Produced by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym)
6. "Leave Me Again" (Written by Kelsea Ballerini • Produced by Kelsea Ballerini and Alysa Vanderheym)

[jamatthews83]

She doesn't miss so I'm excited for more music.

[Darkest Hour]

Surprised this is not a local midnight release, and she is already releasing new material.

[Darkest Hour]

Tracks 1, 2 and 6 solely written by Kelsea. Tracks 3, 4 and 5 written by Kelsea and Alysa Vanderheym (also co-producer of the EP with Kelsea).

[jab820]

This is f***ing unbelievably good. Written & directed by KB. I am honestly in awe. Don't you dare do anything besides watch it as your first listen. 

[zaclord 🌈]

When she dropped “I think that this is when it’s over for me” I think my whole body exploded. DAMN this is a phenomenal work of art - the videos, the lyrics, the production…

“Just Married” is my favorite because nothing gets me like a surprise play on words in a hook but “Blindsided” and “Mountain With A View” are very close behind. “Penthouse” and “Leave Me Again” are also amazing though. Kelsea is one of the most consistent artists in the game and it’s a crying shame how ignored she is at award shows.

Echoing that you need to WATCH this as your first listen.

[zdm1998]

“I think that this is when I cut the ties. I think that this is when I set myself free.” CHILLS

[.indulgecountry]

Everyone's quoting their god-tier line from the set but it's Were you blindsided or were you just blind? for me.

She is channeling her best T-Swift in these lyrics holy fucking shit. I was not fully prepared for the raw cutting honesty in these words. She absolutely smashed this EP out of the park and I'm glad she gave it to us despite having a new full-length project not that long ago, because this is definitely a perfect side addendum tying up her relationship happenings that didn't really get to be touched on with Subject to Change. Utter perfection. Glad she spoke her truth too, because the tabloids had already done their best to paint her in a negative light for the divorce, especially since Morgan Evans hit the ground running first with "Over for You."

[SHOOTER]

And now you’re saying that you’re lost and that’s lost on me
Years of sitting across from me in therapy
I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find
Baby, were you blindsided or were you just blind?



She deserves awards for this body of work!

[austin]

Oh my gosh. This is INCREDIBLE. I'm almost lost for words. I didn't expect something so powerful.

"Just Married" is my favorite and feels like it may lyrically be her best song. That hook...unexpected and fantastic.

I will be listening to this all year. Can she win a Grammy finally?

Also, kudos to her label for not caring that she has a single out at Country radio right now and allowing her to get this body of work out there.

[bigfan101]

Feb 14, 2023 11:52:56 GMT -5 austin said:

Oh my gosh. This is INCREDIBLE. I'm almost lost for words. I didn't expect something so powerful.

"Just Married" is my favorite and feels like it may lyrically be her best song. That hook...unexpected and fantastic.

I will be listening to this all year. Can she win a Grammy finally?

Also, kudos to her label for not caring that she has a single out at Country radio right now and allowing her to get this body of work out there.

All of this. Give her every damn award she wants.

And props to Black River again for everything.

[mnvikings]

Maybe she can get nominated for female vocalist again.🙄

[ethanhunt]

Yeah I've felt for a little while that Kelsea had this in her but I'm still kinda shell shocked.

cried from the second i hit play until the end

[bigfan101]

Somehow this gets better on the second and third listen. Blown away by her vulnerability.

[Ernesto]

Loving this. These lyrics are haunting, especially because we know they come from a real place. I hope she gets much success and respect for it!

[raylatch98]

For me the line that works so much for me and is my favorite is: 

"I'm taking the ring off, I'm finally crying."

Just the way she delivers that line is so raw and emotional for me. 

[taylor is terrified]

I’m the only one, alone, at a table meant for two.

And I thought that would make it all better, and maybe forever wouldn’t feel like the walls closing in
‘Cause how does that even make sense?
Now that I think about it, it never did.

Like that one time in 2019, before that big show, we had a big fight
I slept on the couch and then the next night you put on your suit
I put on a smile and sang about how it’s okay to cry, dying inside.

I hope I learn to love myself like I loved you then
And I hope I never leave me again.

I mean, come on. She’s magna cum laude at Swift University. This is SUCH an incredible set of songs. Music that is this visceral and vulnerable is one of my favorite genres. The short film was also beautiful, and I echo that this is how these songs need to be heard for the first time. So happy Black River went against the country grain and released this in the middle of the Subject to Change era. More is better! (Within reason) I don’t see it happening sadly, because the label is independent, but this deserves awards.

[Sugar Rush]

I just can’t over how amazing this EP is.. it’s hauntingly beautiful.

[jab820]

The feelings I am having about this EP are giving Carly Pearce 29 - a raw, honest divorce EP that reminds the genre that this artist is to be taken seriously and revitalizes their career.

[schnetzka]

I absolutely loved the short film and the EP. I love how raw and honest Kelsea was and I thought her acting was wonderful. The only thing that I don't really understand is the man showing up going into the second song even though he's supposed to be on the other side of the world. I know there was a difference in time between the first two songs but personally I felt like the transition could have been a little better but it's probably just me.

[.indulgecountry]

[SHOOTER]

Blindsided is #13 on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist. Good visibility and hopefully encourages people to check out the full EP.

[g8erboi]

I sobbed like you wouldn’t believe. This is a god-tier body of work, right up there with Carly’s 29 project.

[tryexp]

This EP is amazing, the short film is great as well and I am so impressed that she penned a few of these on her own. I quite like the production as well. Hopefully this can be the success it deserves to be!

[g8erboi]

The first two tracks were my initial favorites, but "Penthouse" really snuck up on me. That chorus is absolutely delicious. The only thing that sounds out of place to me is the interlude, but I see why she put it in there. Overall this EP brought out a side to Kelsea that we’ve never seen before and proves that she’s an artist, not just a singer. I’ve always been a big fan of her, but she has risen to the upper echelon for me.

I hope later on she decides to make a full album out of this, but she made this EP very specific with the chapters and everything, so I doubt it’ll happen. As for radio, I could see either "Just Married" or "Blindsided" doing well, but I think it would be a good idea to let "If YOU GO DOWN" finish its run first.

[daddy]

Got around to watching tonight. Really impressed by the short film and the songs are stunning.

[zaclord 🌈]

This is the scene in "Just Married" that I just cannot get out of my head. The second set of dishes he puts in her arms and the look she gives him is just so heart-wrenching. Beyond obsessed with this whole EP, but especially "Just Married".

[Darkest Hour]

Debut at #21 country and #186 overall with 8k SPS with 3 days of tracking.

[dwindeezy]

Feb 21, 2023 21:02:47 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Debut at #21 country and #186 overall with 8k SPS with 3 days of tracking.

That’s actually mad impressive to me and I think that’ll bode for a small 2nd week drop (or even slight gain if it picked up throughout the week) for its first full tracking week. Also her SNL Gig? Huge get and really hope she performs one track from this (the boost could be SOLID giving it some legs) and one from ‘subject to change’ (ideally her current country single) to maximize awareness for both projects.

I haven’t fully listen to this but are there any tracks y’all could see fitting on hot ac radio? Now that Heartfirst peaked, this project could benefit from a single pushed to hot ac as she definitely has built up enough of a name there to get consistent top 25-20 hits there without a heavy push.

[RoseColoredGirl]

I finally watched this, and I was blown away by how much I loved this. The lyrics are gorgeous and it's definitely her strongest project to date. The short film was absolutely amazing; I cried multiple times throughout. The imagery was gorgeous, and the mundaneness of the some of the imagery was very emotional at times. Even the part with her making toast and coffee made me tear up a little bit, because you can see in her face that she's absolutely miserable.

I thought the level of vulnerability she took this film to was amazing. The "getting divorced sounds scary" line in the second song really got me - I think it's frighteningly relatable to many people that they just stay in bad relationships because they're afraid of being alone or don't want to admit they've fallen out of love with someone they've been with for so long. I thought Kelsea did an amazing job representing this with the film in a way that both authentic to her and relatable to others.

I liked how many of the lyrics are simple, yet they so effectively convey the heartache and trauma Kelsea experienced that it makes it even sadder than if she had written something super poetic, so major props to her there. I would say my favorite track on here is "Blindsided," but all of them were amazing.

Feb 21, 2023 21:20:57 GMT -5 dwindeezy said:

I haven’t fully listen to this but are there any tracks y’all could see fitting on hot ac radio? Now that Heartfirst peaked, this project could benefit from a single pushed to hot ac as she definitely has built up enough of a name there to get consistent top 25-20 hits there without a heavy push.

I'd say "Blindsided" is the most Hot AC friendly, it's catchy and is slightly more upbeat than the rest of the songs. I could see it peaking top 25 or so there. I'm admittedly still a little salty that "Heartfirst" didn't get further, but I think "Blindsided" could get at least as far as that one did if they sent it.