Patterns (Black River, 2024)

Even in an age where we're replete with great female singer/songwriters, Kelsea Ballerini goes to places that others wouldn't touch. It sure would burnish one's image to talk about popping bottles all night, versus admitting in a 2020 song ("club") that those places can make for a depressive night that sits on a throne of lies. When the Knoxville, Tenn. native made her big divorce record (splitting from Aussie country artist Morgan Evans), she really welcomed us into a rich girl's loneliness – no cinematic shouting matches. Just a blasé day in a big house where you're not sure where your spouse is or whether either one of you cares.

Compared to some of the all-at-once emotional span of some of Ballerini's recent records, this one feels more assurance in its knowing life is not assured. Ballerini's mildly into astrology now (namechecking the moon and Saturn). And she's got enough cachet to work alongside nearly anyone she might want to call – so it's a real testament to Alysa Vanderheym who continues to be her central musical companion/co-writer/co-producer.

Noah Kahan provides some guest firepower on the gorgeous "Cowboys Cry Too." It's lyrically cutting with lush banjo and strings, taking on the struggles to be a man from both genders. Another secret weapon is Hillary Lindsey's songwriting, who shines on one of the singalong highlights, "Baggage."

The best tracks are on the first half ("Patterns," "Sorry Mom," "Nothing Really Matters") and depending on where your head's at, they really might have their lyrical way with you.

But around the 60-percent point, the ideas are flagging a bit, and you can hear an attempt to ape other artists – a Taylor Swift whispered chorus, and a Shania all-caps overexcited title ("WAIT!"). This is all really unnecessary – Taylor loves her purple prose and privacy a little too much to ever write a line like, "Sorry, Mom, you know that I had sex / 'Fore I bought the white dress / I know you're not impressed / With my lack of stickin' to the Bible."

What a wonder is a supermodel-pretty lady showing you her emotional cellulite. It's incredibly unifying. And you could never say Ballerini's not generous – at 17 tracks, the Digital Deluxe package of "Patterns" (which includes the knockout "To The Men Who Love Women After Heartbreak") easily qualifies as a double album. If there are better records of 2024 than this - but, a few missteps aside - they'd better be ready to fight this one. It's got heart and teeth, all straight from the artist's life.