What's
Subject to Change for
Kelsea Ballerini? Pretty much everything, if her fourth album is to be believed. Written and recorded during a period of personal turmoil -- she announced her divorce from singer
Morgan Evans weeks before the album's September 2022 release --
Subject to Change finds
Ballerini addressing upheaval directly and sideways, alternating heartbreak with empowerment. Often, she veers toward the explicitly confessional, as in "Doin' My Best" a sprightly chronicle of the "weird year" of 2020, a time when her "album dropped at a weird time" and she entered couples therapy (it also takes a direct swipe at
Halsey), but she also peppers the record with sharply crafted pop songs designed to have listeners see themselves in their reflection. While
Ballerini retains her gift for bright, breezy melodies, they don't quite sound so chipper here.
Subject to Change is simultaneously glossy and softly lit, an album with plenty of modern electronic flair -- the kind that recalls
Kacey Musgraves's
Golden Hour, only without a penchant for psychedelia or camp -- but designed to offer comfort and warmth. The record could be a balm in troubled times or relaxation in happy ones. It's a testament to
Ballerini's light touch that she can channel such pain into an album that's frictionless. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine