Review: Kelsea Ballerini’s Latest Crosses Country-Pop Boundaries
A 24-year-old who grew up a Britney fan and now
swears allegiance to Shania, Ballerini filled her 2015 debut with smack downs
of Peter Pan bros and other losers, liars and users – songs that were country
by virtue of the banjos and fiddles decorating their stomping choruses. When
she opens Unapologetically with “Graveyard,” vowing that the
ghost of a broken heart won’t hold her back, you can tell she’s reloaded. Dial
up the snare snaps of “Miss Me More” and it could be country trap.
Nostalgia and acoustic guitar haze dampen the bite of “High School”
and “Legends,” but the over-you snaps of “Get Over Yourself”
find her once again shooting at the walls of heartbreak. And her aim is true.