“Jump right in”: Kelsea Ballerini debuts her bubbly new single, “Heartfirst”

Courtesy of Black River Entertainment

Kelsea Ballerini returns today with a new country-pop jam about the giddy early stages of new love. Called “Heartfirst,” the song recounts meeting a guy at a party and diving into a relationship with arms wide open, even though it might end in heartbreak.

“Could be forever or we might break / That’s just the kind of risk that we take,” Kelsea sings in the song’s chorus. “My head is yelling that I could get hurt / But I’m gonna jump right in / Baby, with my heart first.”

It’s the singer’s first new music of the year, and the follow-up to a very different kind of single: The chart-topping “Half of My Hometown,” an introspective ballad that Kelsea released as a duet with Kenny Chesney.

Before she released the song, Kelsea told fans that “Heartfirst” would be very different than “Half of My Hometown.” “It’s like, a bop: Breezy, windows down, go for a drive, get right,” she explained to E! News on the red carpet of the Grammy Awards earlier this month.

Speaking of awards shows, Kelsea will introduce fans to the live version of “Heartfirst” during next week’s CMT Music Awards, a show she’s also co-hosting with actor Anthony Mackie. Tune in to the show on Monday, April 11 on CBS to watch Kelsea’s performance.

Friday, April 8, 2022 at 12:00PM by Carena Liptak Permalink