Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
For Kelsea Ballerini, Valentine’s Day this year isn’t all candy and flowers. The 29-year-old GRAMMY nominee has released an emotionally-charged six-song EP along with a short film, diving deep into the pains of her recent divorce from Morgan Evans in a project titled Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.
“here’s my healing journey. here’s my heart. here’s my truth. i’ve never been this open, i’ve never been this bold, and i’ve never been this proud of my art. so with love and respect, i’m rolling up the welcome mat. six song story and short film out now. happy valentine’s day,” she tweeted with a bandaged heart emoji.
Related: Hear Kelsea Ballerini Hits and More on The Highway
In a statement, Kelsea explained that she views the EP as a continuation of her album Subject to Change, which dropped in September 2022: “These are six songs I wish I had last year. It’s about the complexities of the feelings you go through during a massive shift at a young age. Rolling Up the Welcome Mat was how I processed everything. It’s the way I got my feelings out of my body and heart and put them to music — which is the purest way I could’ve handled it.”
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat includes the tracks “Mountain With A View,” “Just Married,” “Penthouse,” “Interlude,” “Blindsided,” and “Leave Me Again.”
The songs tell the story of their relationship hitting a breaking point, just going through the motions of marriage, moving house together, dealing with public discourse and rumors, and whether or not they saw the end coming. While none of the lyrics explicitly mention Morgan, they do hint at intimate moments like the couple’s wedding date and dividing up of assets.
Related: Kelsea Ballerini on Being Rejected by a Label Due to Taylor Swift
The 20-minute short film, written and directed by Kelsea alongside Patrick Tracy, illustrates each EP track further. “The only way I’ve been able to handle my life since I was 12 was to write about it,” she shared. “Ironically, I started writing music because my parents got divorced; that was my therapy.”
Watch the full short film below, and listen to Kelsea Ballerini on The Highway (Ch. 56).
Click here to start listening at home siriusxm.com/listenathome
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