Graveyard

Kelsea Ballerini starts off her Unapologetically album with this meditation about feeling buried under the emotional decay of a decayed relationship. "I was going through a breakup that was really hard on my heart, and finding success at the same time," she explained. "It was a big tug of war between my heart and head, and career and personal. It was messy. I didn't show it at the time, but now I get to."

Unapologetically is a chronological sonic diary of Ballerini's life since the release of The First Time. It details the heartbreak of a breakup, her self- rediscovery, before finding love with fellow country singer Morgan Evans. "I don't even know how to describe it in a few words," the singer told The Boot. "It's a chronological story, because I love albums. I think that's how you get to know artists, by listening to the whole thing, not just singles. And so, I was thinking, 'How do I make people want to listen to the whole thing?' I was like, 'Well, I've written about my life, why don't I just put it in order and just lay it all out there, with how it happened.'" "And so, it's a story, and it starts really dark, and it gets really light. It was really freeing to write it as honestly and as openly as I could, and then put it together," Ballerini added. "I listen to it and I get emotional because I'm like, 'I remember that.' And people who have followed me the last three years, since I put out the first record, they're going to hear a song and they're going to hear details in it, and they're going to know what it was about, and that's really cool."