Kelsea Ballerini Announces New Album, Shares New Version of ‘Club’

Shortly after teasing fans with a new project, Kelsea Ballerini announced this week that she is releasing a new album, ballerini, on Sept. 11. The album is a follow-up to her third album, kelsea, which premiered in March, and will feature re-worked versions of kelsea‘s songs. On Wednesday, the country star shared a new version of “club,” which was an early promotional single for kelsea.

The 26-year-old explained the concept behind the two albums on Instagram, sharing her thoughts on biological names and telling fans that hers represents her two dual sides. “Half of it’s given to you. It’s the combination of letters that your parents feel will describe who you’ll become,” she said. “It represents the mystery and the potential you hold. The other half is handed down. It represents generations of a family tree full of history and drama and inherited reasons that contributed to who you are. The two halves together make up your biological name. You can change it, but I never will.”

“To me, Kelsea is glitter,” she continued. “She’s bold, effervescent, her dreams are boundless. She’s who I want to be. But Ballerini? She’s emotional, vulnerable, soft. She observes her surroundings and chooses her words carefully. She’s who I am. The same songs, from the same heart, just told in a different way. Introducing ballerini: the other side of the same story.”

On Twitter, Ballerini shared that each reworked song on ballerini has “different keys, tempos, melodies, lyrics, production. each song has its own set of changes…all super intentional to make the lyrics hit different. I’m so freaking excited.”

The singer began teasing her new album on Tuesday, the same day the 2020 CMA Awards nominations were announced and Ballerini did not hear her name called. She reacted to the snub on Twitter, writing that she is certain “something beautiful” will come out of her disappointment. “last time this happened, I wrote homecoming queen the next day about the feeling,” she tweeted, referring to her recent single “Homecoming Queen?” “something beautiful will undoubtedly come from the current disappointment. nonetheless, congratulations to my friends & peers that got nominations. proud to be a part of the country family, always.”

On Monday, Ballerini released the music video for her current single “Hole in the Bottle,” which she described as “a drunken daydream.”