Kelsea Ballerini has confirmed that a new pop collaboration is in the works for her third album.
In 2018, she released ‘This Feeling’ with the Chainsmokers, which appeared on the Deluxe Edition of her second album, Unapologetically.
That was her first release outside of the country format and it has been streamed over 300 million times on Spotify alone.
On the latest episode of the Tone Countrycast, Ballerini revealed that a follow-up pop collaboration will appear on her third album.
She says that the advent of streaming has made it more viable for artists like her to record songs in formats outside of country, without having to completely remove themselves from the genre.
“It’s exciting… it allows for us to have one country radio single and another single that we playlist differently and has different ears on it,” she said.
Listen to Kelsea Ballerini on Episode #3 of the Tone Countrycast
“That’s pretty cool to have different avenues for different songs to have a life.”
We’ll have to wait and see who the new collaboration will be with.
But she just filmed a CMT Crossroads special with Halsey! So maybe there could be some connection with this and the new album? Who knows? Our guess at this point is as good as yours.
Check out ‘This Feeling’ by The Chainsmokers and Kelsea Ballerini
Ballerini’s husband Morgan Evans (currently on tour in Australia and New Zealand) topped the Australian pop charts last year with his song ‘Day Drunk.’
As she puts the final touches on her third album, Ballerini isn’t feeling the same kind of pressure she felt in the lead up her second album release.
“The most pressure I ever felt was before releasing Unapologetically. I had two years to overthink it,” she said.
“Every song I wrote, I thought… is this good enough… and people were like “have you heard of the sophomore slump?”
“So I’m like… oh my god! I just panicked. I honestly think I put a lot of pressure on myself for that album.”
However this time around, she’s feeling much more comfortable with the process and the lead-up.
“I want everyone to love what I put out… but I love it and I think that means something,” she said.
“So I think the anxiety is probably out of it a little more for this album.”
Ballerini recently released the album’s stunning first single ‘Homecoming Queen.’
She says the song is a metaphoric story (never having actually been the homecoming queen herself) about a time when she “didn’t allow myself to have a bad day.”
“I love every bit of my life. The fact that I get to tour and have a song that goes on the radio is the coolest thing in the entire world and because of that I went through this season where I didn’t allow myself to have a bad day,” says Ballerini.
“And I would guilt-trip myself if I felt sad or if I felt homesick or felt insecure or struggling with anxiety.”
“I didn’t give myself permission to feel any of that.”
Watch Kelsea Ballerini perform ‘Homecoming Queen’ at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park 2019
“This song was all about peeling back the layers of what I was presenting myself all the time, which was together and happy and glittery,” she says.
“There are days where I feel like that and don’t want to feel guilty for that, but there are also days when I just want to cry.”
“And there are days where I don’t feel good about myself and there are days when I am questioning what’s next, am I good enough and that’s ok too.”
Ballerini is nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the upcoming CMA Awards.
You can listen to the latest episode of the Tone Countrycast featuring Kelsea Ballerini now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Deezer and TuneIn.
In the podcast, she also talks about the pros and cons of being compared to Taylor Swift, existing in country and mainstream formats, writing in the streaming era, how she and her husband Morgan Evans support each other, balancing her personal life and career and the importance of friendships with peers such as Maren Morris.
