Kelsea Ballerini’s latest era has arrived.
The country star, 32, released her new song, “I Sit in Parks,” on Friday, November 7, after announcing a surprise EP that’s dropping next week.
The track features Ballerini ruminating over what her life could have been like if she had a traditional family life instead of being a famous musician.
“Dad brought the picnic / Mom brought the sunscreen / Two kids are laughing and crying on red swings / We look about the same age / But we don’t have same Saturdays,” Ballerini sings, comparing herself to a mom of two within her age range.
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“Did I miss it / By now is it / A lucid dream, is it my fault / For chasing things a body clock / Doesn’t wait for / I did the damn tour / It’s what I wanted, what I got / I spun around and then I stopped / And wonder if I missed the mark,” Ballerini continues.
Later, the singer adds, “I wonder if she wants my freedom / Like I want to be a mother.”
Ballerini announced that a six-track EP titled Mount Pleasant will drop Friday, November 14. Before the release of “I Sit in Parks,” some of the CMA Award winner’s famous friends weighed in to share their excitement about the new music.
“AHHHHHHH… it’s soooo good,” Reese Witherspoon wrote in the comments section of Ballerini’s Instagram post about the song. “YES🌳 v exciting,” added Keleigh Teller.
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In an Instagram Story post on Thursday, Ballerini revealed that “I Sit in Parks” is the first track on Mount Pleasant. The other five are as follows: “People Pleaser,” “Emerald City,” “587,” “The Revisionist” and “Check on Your Friends.”
Ballerini has released plenty of new music this year, starting in March with the deluxe edition of her fifth studio album, Patterns. Last month, she dropped Patterns (Stripped Sessions), which included acoustic versions of seven Patterns songs, including new takes on “Baggage” and “Sorry Mom.”
“I Sit in Parks” is Ballerini’s first brand-new song since her split from Chase Stokes after two years of dating. A rep for the “Peter Pan” singer confirmed the breakup to Us Weekly in September.
Neither Ballerini nor Stokes, 33, has publicly discussed the end of their relationship, but Ballerini joked last month that she’s been leaning on antidepressants to get her through the days.
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“Brought to you by hot dogs, porch painting, bed by 9pm, friendship, parks, Kenny Chesney and lexapro ❤️,” she captioned an Instagram carousel that included a snap of her dog, Dibs, photos of pumpkins being painted on a porch and Ballerini hugging Chesney, 57, at a concert. (Lexapro is a prescription selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used to treat major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.)
Last month, Ballerini admitted in an Elle interview that she was disappointed when she left this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards empty-handed. She had been nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Music Event of the Year.
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“I wish I had a good answer for this, or I’d probably sleep a little better at night,” she replied when asked why she thought the loss happened. “I had seven [No. 1 hits], and then one day, I just didn’t anymore. I still put in the work, and I still show up and put out songs that are undeniably country to the radio, and it’s just different now, and that’s OK. If this was what success looks like for those first seven songs, and now that’s shifted for whatever reason, where else can we go?”
Ballerini noted that she’s “not gonna stop making music,” so she’ll instead adapt her sound — and her attitude.
“Where else can I fit? So, I think it’s just about shifting where I find success, and I think it’s the same with award shows — like, I’ve never really been an award show girlie,” she explained. “I love going and I love performing, and I really let it affect me for a long time. And now I just go, ‘You know what? I’m happy to be in the conversation. I know that I have value here, and this is not where I find my success.’”
