SUBJECT TO CHANGE, Kelsea Ballerini

SUBJECT TO CHANGE is Kelsea Ballerini's fourth album, and it's safe to say that no matter how unpredictable her life was during the creation of it, she delivers on easy, fun, creative country-pop records time and time again. I was lucky enough to attend one of the first shows of the HEARTFIRST Tour in Chicago about a week after the release of SUBJECT TO CHANGE and honestly, this album was incredibly fun to celebrate and therapeutic to scream-sing with a yellow dress and glitter-clad Kelsea back in October. Kelsea is now in her late twenties and she was going through the early stages of ending her marriage while making SUBJECT TO CHANGE, so while the girlishness and charm of her first several albums is far from gone, it's definitely matured this time around.

Stand-out tracks: "IF YOU GO DOWN (I'M GOING DOWN TOO)""HEARTFIRST" "MARILYN"

My favorites: "THE LITTLE THINGS" "MUSCLE MEMORY" "I GUESS THEY CALL IT FALLIN'"

Kelsea absolutely knows how to hook a listener with an album opener, and title track "SUBJECT TO CHANGE" is no exception. It's optimistic while being incredibly honest with it's "A little unpredictable, I confess/that if one things the same/it's that I'm subject to change" and boppy pop-country beat. The country gets dialed down a little and the pop gets poppier with "THE LITTLE THINGS"-- this one sounds like butterflies, roses, and twinkle lights all wrapped up in a perfectly tied bow.

Kelsea takes a page out of Shania Twain's book with sassy "I CAN'T HELP MYSELF"-- with instrumentals lead by what can only be called a fiddle and lyrics like "'cause when the sun starts falling, the girls start calling/the wine comes off of the shelf/then the drums start to kick in and all my inhibitions/are gone by a quarter to twelve" you've got a perfectly fun track. "IF YOU GO DOWN (I'M GOING DOWN TOO)" keeps the country fun going-- this one is an ode to a ride-or-die kind of friendship, but puts a playful spin on it with lines like "hypothetically if you ever kill your husband/hand on the Bible, I'd be lyin' through my teeth" and "if you rob a bank, I'm your getaway Mercedes/God knows that's what friends are for."

"MUSCLE MEMORY" romanticizes the experience of falling back in with a romantic interest of the past ("something I can't control comes over me/my hands know just where to be/it's muscle memory") and noticing all the little differences in someone that made you fall for them the first time. And the "uh huh" hook in this one is great. "I GUESS THEY CALL IT FALLIN'" is like the prequel to what was to come with Kelsea's 2023 EP Rolling Up the

Welcome Mat, telling the story of her divorce at 29 years old. The instrumental on this track is tumultuous in the way that the emotions of the track would absolutely make you feel, and it's scathing but in a way that clearly illustrates the heartbreak behind the anger ("oh, I guess they call it fallin' 'cause you end up on the ground/you can't live forever with your head up in the clouds").

One of the few ballads on SUBJECT TO CHANGE is the incredibly romantic "UNIVERSE." If the phrase "the stars were aligned" were turned into a song, this would be it. Kelsea has always been a genius at metaphorical lyrics, and "you say I hang the stars in your eyes/but you put the universe in mine" just adds to the list of great metaphorical lines in her songs. If "UNIVERSE" was the initial spark of a relationship, "WALK IN THE PARK" is the relationship as it grows to the point of knowing all the little things about a person that make them a little less perfect, but still loveable-- and this is another one where the metaphorical lyrics really shine--"sometimes I'm a summer day, sometimes I start raining/always one season away from everything changing/I'm always looking for greener grass, on a carousel that goes too fast".

Kelsea's most recent GRAMMY nomination was for lead single "HEARTFIRST." This one checks all the boxes for a perfect lead single-- it's fun, it's lighthearted, it's summer love in a perfectly crafted country-pop song. The glittery butterfly aesthetic of the album really represents this song perfectly. "YOU'RE DRUNK, GO HOME" is the only feature on this album with Kelly Clarkson and Carly Pearce joining in on the honky tonkiest of honky tonk Kelsea has ever released. This one is solely just for fun, but it man does it achieve what it set out to do-- and lines like "yeah, I know you're a Virgo, that's the third time you told me/just 'cause I am too doesn't mean that you know me" and "the way you're slurring and the way you stumble/ain't no way you're gonna get my number" are just so deliciously sassy.

The closing tracks of SUBJECT TO CHANGE are a pair of some of Kelsea's best written tracks yet-- "MARILYN", very obviously referring to Marilyn Monroe, is written as a beautiful letter wondering if the in's and out's of fame were really worth it all. This is what I feel like Taylor Swift was going for with 2012's "The Lucky One" from RED, but shockingly, I think Kelsea pulls it off better. The album closes pared back acoustics and stunning harmonies on "WHAT I HAVE." This album makes it clear that Kelsea has been through a transformative and enlightening couple years while writing it, and this song is a love song to all the things she still has that makes life a joy to wake up to every day. Closing an album with "I got the air, good eyes to see/got so much more than I'll ever need/even the bad days ain't all that bad/with what I have"? Perfect.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

-, Ed Sheeran

Like many others, I found Ed Sheeran thanks to his friendship and collaboration with Taylor Swift on her 2012 album Red. He was in my regular rotation of artists I listened to with the releases of his first several albums, but unfortunately for me, he faded into the background of my listening habits when he disappeared from music (and the spotlight altogether) for about 4 years following 2017's ÷ (Divide). I'm a huge fan of Aaron Dessner and his production work on albums like Taylor's Folklore and Gracie Abrams' Good Riddance, so when I learned that Aaron had partnered up with Ed to produce this album, - (Subtract), I was intrigued-- and I was not disappointed.

Stand-out tracks: "Dusty" "End of Youth" "No Strings"

My favorites: "Curtains" "Spark"

The album opens on a relatively soft note with "Boat," which beautifully shows off Ed's vocal talent while illustrating the metaphor of overcoming challenges with "the waves won't break my boat." Aaron Dessner's incredible talent as a producer really starts to shine on "Salt Water," with the melancholy, piano-based instrumental backing up haunting lyricism ("I'm free in salt water/embrace the deep and leave everything/it was just a dream") and Ed's powerful middle vocal range. Subtract's lead single, "Eyes Closed," isn't really anything special in contrast to the rest of the album, but it does effectively takes the indie pop-rock style Ed Sheeran was known for with his previous albums with songs like "Shivers" and "Shape of You," and transforms it to be a little more mature thanks to the song's subject matter (we've got a pandemic song ladies and gents) and the acoustic-based poppiness of the production (I should have known only good things would come when Max Martin, Shellback, and Aaron Dessner collaborate). "Life Goes On" is classic Ed Sheeran-- guitar and piano instrumentals coupled with passionate, soaring vocals depicting the tumultuousness of heartbreak.

The tone shifts towards a more electronic soft-rock sound with "Dusty"-- this one is incredibly appealing from its visual storytelling in "drop the needle on Dusty/frost on the leaves like a lake/the moment came out of nothing/a beautiful smile on your face" to it's fuller, cozy sound.

The joy doesn't last long though, with "Dusty" transitioning into "End of Youth."

Lyrically, this is one of the most gutwrenching songs I've ever come across, ever. No one really writes about the grief realizing you may have lost parts of yourself, but with lyrics like "You can't talk me through the fall if we don't know if I can land/tried to grow, but the past, it tears me down to size/tell the world how to process, but don't take the same advice," this song embodies the heaviness of coming into adulthood with stunning artistry. No one can sing a tragically passionate piano-and-drum ballad with quite the same effect that Ed Sheeran can.

"Curtains" turns to a deeper, more dynamic sound and is chock-full of really great lyrics illustrating the empowerment that comes from finally pulling yourself out of a dark place. The electric guitars and the repetitive "and tomorrow's another day/let me see the sunshine" make for a really fun hook. The production of "Spark" is probably my favorite of the entire album. It's very piano-heavy in a yearning way and it meshes beautifully with the hopeful "use words as kindling/light up the night sky/let the memories take flight/and hope the sparks survive."

The closing act of Subtract comes with back-to-back tracks "Sycamore" and "No Strings"-- a beautiful pairing of truly human love songs. The former tells the story of the power of hope in the face of a health crisis and the latter illustrates the unrelenting power of simply fighting for the ones you love ("this is no strings/you are who I love/it's just growing pains/we did not fight for love/just to let it be defeated").

Subtract is everything I hoped it would be-- vocally powerful, lyrically charged, and packed with perfectly-produced encompassing instruments. Personally, I'm thrilled that Ed dropped the hip-hop/rap influences of some of his earlier albums in favor of a more indie-rock vibe with Subtract. Aaron Dessner's production makes for a well-rounded album in terms of instrumentals, and while Ed Sheeran has always been good at capturing emotionality and story-telling, Subtract really allows those strengths to shine.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED

Speak Now (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift

The day has finally come. Taylor finally owns Speak Now. This was the first album of hers I went and bought at Target on release day in 2010, decked out in my crimped hair and Fearless Tour t-shirt. While we've seen so many evolutions of Taylor over the years, I feel like 100% self-written Speak Now and now Speak Now (Taylor's Version) are the collection of songs that are the absolute most "Taylor" at her core. While some things have changed from the original Speak Now, ultimately Speak Now (Taylor's Version) takes an album that was exceptional 13 years ago and recreates it with intensified instrumental production and matured vocals-- and then tacks on possibly the best string of From the Vault tracks to date.

Stand-out tracks: "Dear John (Taylor's Version)" "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version)" "I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"

My favorites: "Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version) "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" "Haunted (Taylor's Version)" "Long Live (Taylor's Version)" "Castles Crumbling (feat. Hayley Williams) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)"

The album starts with that same charming "oh oh" of "Mine (Taylor's Version)." Between the incredibly detailed storytelling, particularly the bridge ("and I remember that fight, two-thirty a.m./when everything was slipping right out of our hands/I ran out, crying, and you followed me out into the street/braced myself for the goodbye/cause that's all I've ever known/then you took me by surprise/you said, 'I'll never leave you alone'"), and power vocals that really convey the passion of the outro ("you are the best thing that's ever been mine/yes, yes, do you believe it?/we're gonna make it now") this is one of those instant-classic Taylor Swift love songs done exactly right. My favorite song from the original Speak Now (and one of my top 5 favorite Taylor songs ever) is "Sparks Fly"-- maybe it's how intensely ingrained the original is in my ears and heart, but the emotionality that oozes out of the original isn't quite there in the re-recorded version. I fully acknowledge that I'm being nit-picky, so I'll also easily admit that "Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version)" remains one of my favorites based on the song itself-- this just might be one that I turn to my physical copies of the 2010 version of the album more often. "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" is the perfect example of a song that was perfect when it was released in 2010 and recreating it with fuller violins and guitars makes it all the more heartbreakingly romantic. I will never forget the absolute magic that was seeing this one performed on piano and mashed up with OneRepublic's "Apologize" on the Speak Now Tour in 2011-- "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" simply just got better with age.

One of the most powerful moments of the entire album is the bridge of "Dear John (Taylor's Version), when Taylor belts out "I'm shining like fireworks over your sad empty town." After the absolutely heartwrenching tale strung out in this song of a girl who was "too young to be messed with/the girl in the dress, cried the whole way home" and knowing all that girl came to become, that line really hits home, especially in the re-recorded version. "The Story of Us (Taylor's Version)" is lyrically genius in its storybook references and its instrumentation that is chaotic in the best way. The re-recorded version of this one is infinitely better than the original thanks to the noticeable power Taylor's voice has developed over the last 13 years and the punch of modern production on those drums that had Taylor shouting "Can I please see you jump?!" back on the Speak Now Tour.

A theme across the entirety of Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is the absolute precision in lyrical metaphors and the illustrative details of the storytelling of genuinely every single song. Of the re-recorded songs from the original album, "Never Grow Up (Taylor's Version)," "Enchanted (Taylor's Version," and "Innocent (Taylor's Version)" are among the most strikingly visual in their lyrical and instrumental composition. "Never Grow Up (Taylor's Version)" is pared back and simple, allowing the lullaby-like melodies and stories of the nostalgia of growing pains to take center stage, while "Enchanted (Taylor's Version)" and "Innocent (Taylor's Version)" are grander and certainly more wistful-- while Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is full of dazzling bridges, these two might have the best of the bunch (hello the growing violins behind "Please don't be in love with someone else/please don't have somebody waiting on you" and ground-shaking drums backing lyrics like "Time turns flames to embers/you'll have new Septembers/every one of us has messed up too/minds change like the weather/I hope you remember/today is never too late to be brand new").

The first lyric change of Taylor's re-recording process comes in "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version)," which automatically draws your attention to the lyrics-- however for me, the biggest star of this song is the absolutely delicious electric guitars and the wicked spoken backing vocals, with"think about what you did" being particularly scathing. Despite the lyric change, "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version)" remains searing towards the girl who stole her man and I continue to be astounded by the sheer volume of words Taylor managed to squeeze into this song. Remember what I said earlier about "Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version) losing some of the emotionality from the 2010 version? "Better Than Revenge (Taylor's Version) hasn't lost an ounce of the scorching emotion from the original. My other favorite track from the original Speak Now is "Haunted" and "Haunted (Taylor's Version)" takes the incredibly impressive pairing of violin and electric guitar coupled with quite simply haunting lyricism and makes a song that was great on the original album even better. My favorite detail of "Haunted (Taylor's Version)"? The emphasized bells in the intro that immediately take me back to the ringing gold bells on stage at the Speak Now Tour while a red-dress-clad Taylor struck them dramatically with a mallet during this song. It's the little details.

The end of the original standard album comes with "Long Live (Taylor's Version)". There really aren't words that can accurately describe the way this song makes me feel 13 years, 7 albums, and countless Taylor-related memories later. In the re-recorded album prologue Taylor writes that "Long Live (Taylor's Version)" is for "those people, the ones who thought I had been good enough all along"-- every little bit of the gratitude she feels for us really does shine through on one of the most heartfelt and genuinely grateful songs she's ever written, especially in the re-recorded version.

Let's dive into the From the Vault tracks. After listening to all of them a couple of times, I'm incredibly impressed by the instrumental range of these songs as well as the fact that they're brand new in 2023, but sound exactly like they were released in 2010 along with the original album. "Electric Touch (feat. Fall Out Boy) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is continued proof that a pop-rock Taylor album would be unstoppable-- from supple drums and encompassing vocals on the choruses chanting lyrics like "all I know is this could either break my heart/or bring it back to life" to the little bit of flair added by the Fall Out Boy feature, this song is a 2010 pop-rock dream. "When Emma Falls in Love (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is honestly probably my least favorite of the From the Vault tracks, which puts into perspective how good all of them are. Starting with a simple piano-and-vocal that sounds poetic, the song then blossoms into the classic Speak Now-era instrumentals of drums, banjo, guitars, and dreamy backing vocals and idyllic lyrics like "she's the kinda book that you can't put down/like if Cleopatra grew up in a small town/and all the bad boys would be good boys/if they only had the chance to love her."

The next two From the Vault tracks are my personal favorites. "I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is going to be the "All Too Well (10-Minute Version)" of this album with its catchy electric-guitar led instrumentals and the incredibly sleek and sexy lyrics that are shocking to have been written by 18-year old Taylor. [Edit: The music video for this song has been released since I wrote this review and HELLO? Taylor Lautner and Joey King breaking into the Speak Now vault to save Speak Now Tour Taylor??? To represent how fans have helped her take back her art??? I'll be talking about this one for A LONG TIME.] "Castles Crumbling (feat. Hayley Williams) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is the heartbreaking anti-"Long Live"-- every emotion of being built up so high that it gets to be lonely and scary is laid out with the perfect balance of power and vulnerability. The lyrics are truly the star of the show on this song; examples include "used to chant my name/now they're screaming that they hate me/never wanted you to hate me" and "power went to my head and I couldn't stop/ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off/and here I sit alone behind walls of regret/falling down like promises that I never kept."

"Foolish One (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" is probably the From the Vault track that genuinely sounds the most like it came straight off the original 2010 Speak Now album. Guitar-piano-drum instrumentals, "la la la's," and poignantly overdramatic-yet-romantic lyrics like "now I'm slidin' down the wall with my head in my hands/sayin', 'How could I not see the signs?'/you haven't written me or called" make this track absolutely classic Speak Now. The album concludes after 22 tracks with "Timeless (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)." This one is "Mine" meets Taylor Swift's "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)"-- it's a love letter to love stories that span years against all odds. "That's when I came upon a book covered in cobwebs/story of a romance torn apart by fate/hundreds of years ago, they fell in love like we did/and I'd die for you in the same way if I first saw your face" is just exactly the right tone to end the album on with its captivating yet simple nostalgia and romance.

In my opinion, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is one of Taylor's greatest triumphs as a musician thus far. The original album was a skip-less classic-- now with updated instrumentals and matured vocals and sonically cohesive powerhouses of From the Vault tracks, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is a magical masterpiece.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED