"Heartfirst" is a song recorded by American country music artist Kelsea Ballerini. It was released to country music radio on April 8, 2022, as the first single from Ballerini's fourth studio album, '' Subject to Change''. Ballerini co-wrote the song with Alysa Vanderheym and Little Big Town member Karen Fairchild.

Content

"Heartfirst" is the lead single to Kelsea Ballerini's fourth studio album. She wrote the song with Alysa Vanderheym and Little Big Town vocalist Karen Fairchild in July 2021. According to Ballerini, it was the first song that she ever wrote where she did not come up with the title first; instead, the opening line "''Met him at a party/ Accidentally brushed his body/ On the way to get a drink at the bar''" was the first lyric she wrote for the song. In the chorus, Ballerini sings of "jumping in" to a relationship "heart first", or uncertain of the outcome. After recording the demo with Vanderheym and Fairchild, she began recording the song in early 2022 with producers Shane McAnally and Julian Bunetta. The final recording was one semitone higher than the demo and slightly faster in tempo, which according to Ballerini made the song "brighter". McAnally and Bunetta also encouraged Ballerini to change the order of the verses and add a bridge. The final arrangement includes Evan Hutchings on drums, Craig Young on bass guitar, Alex Wright on synthesizer, Whit Wright on

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, and Bunetta on piano, guitar, and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. Ballerini also sang her own harmonies on the recording, with some parts of the song featuring eight vocal tracks dubbed over each other. In an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Ballerini stated that "Hearfirst" was influenced by the music of The Corrs, specifically their 2000's hit "

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" and later told '' People'' that the song was "the lovechild of The Corrs and

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

, with a little Shania sprinkled on top".

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of Taste of Country wrote of the song, "A dreamy, acoustic open pins a vibrant arrangement that sits deeper in the mix than much of what Ballerini has released before. The song isn't quite a vocal showcase, but a story showcase." He also described the song's lyrical theme as "instant romance", while considering the sound "country pop". Rebecca Mills of Culturess positively compared the song to Taylor Swift's album '' Fearless''. The song was nominated for a Grammy.

Commercial performance

"Heartfirst" debuted at number 24 on the ''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart dated for April 16, 2022. It peaked at 22.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Kelsea Ballerini 2022 singles 2022 songs Kelsea Ballerini songs Black River Entertainment singles Songs written by Kelsea Ballerini Songs written by Karen Fairchild Song recordings produced by Shane McAnally