Valentine’s Day isn’t all love and romance, especially for the heartbroken people out there. Kelsea Ballerini captures that feeling in a new six-track EP released on Tuesday (Feb. 14) called Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, and its accompanying short film.
In the 20-minute clip, the country star details the devastation of her divorce from fellow country Morgan Evans, opening the short film with “Mountain With a View,” in which the 29-year-old sits alone at a breakfast table. “I’m wearing the ring still / But I think I’m lying / Sometimes you forget yours / I think we’re done trying,” she sings.
She then visually portrays equally emotional tracks “Just Married,” “Penthouse,” “Interlude” and “Blindsided” before wrapping up with the reflective “Leave Me Again,” in which she sings, “For a while the shoe fit / But then I outgrew it / And staying only made me get real good at pretend / So, I hope I never leave me again.”
Ballerini originally announced her divorce from Evans in August 2022 via an Instagram Story. “I’ve always tried to share my life with you in a real and vulnerable way, while also protecting layers of my personal life as they unfold,” she wrote in the all-text message. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce.”
The couple met in March 2016 while both were co-hosting the CMC Awards in Australia. They became engaged in December of that year, and married Dec. 2, 2017 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat also follows her 2022 album, Subject to Change, which reflects on her personal growth over the past few years.
Watch the new short film below.
