Kelsea Ballerini, Boyfriend Chase Stokes Moved On: ‘We’re Unpacked’ (Exclusive)

Kelsey Ballerini and boy Chase Stokes become serious.

In her new song “Baggage,” the 31-year-old country star talks about a new relationship milestone.

“Boy, I know the weight and the power / Of key chains that match / But if you wanna have a welcome mat / Then roll it up with me / Clean out the drawer, clear the shelf / I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” she sings. “I have luggage, but I’m moving.”

So the country star and her Foreign banks A 32-year-old actor living together?

“Oh, we unpacked, baby!” Ballerini – who began to meet Stokes in January 2023, PEOPLE tells.

“Baggage” – which the singer describes as “blissful acceptance” – is one of the standout tracks from Ballerini’s superb fifth album Patternswhich she released on Friday, October 25.

Ballerini gets vulnerable on the album, opening up about moving on from her divorce — she ended her marriage to singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, 39, in August 2022 — and opened her heart to love again.

“I think for me, going into the next chapter of my life — and you hear it on ‘The First Rodeo’ — at first I felt really timid and really like, ‘Oh my God, am I damaged goods?’ – says Ballerini. “And with Baggage, it’s something like a juxtaposition: who I am, who I am, and that’s what I bring to the table, and I’m not going to apologize for the path that got me here. I’m proud of my journey and take it or leave it, I hope you take it.»

Stokes – who appears in his girlfriend’s new music video for “The First Rodeo” – supported Ballerini’s latest project on the day of its release.

“Humanity, authenticity, honesty and a ton of vulnerability,” Stokes wrote on his Instagram stories. “KB, you are a once in a lifetime person. This record is more than a record. It is the soundtrack to our human experience, summed up in 15 tracks. You made something impossible, possible. Thank you for forcing yourself, World. Thanks for letting me in. Please listen to this.

Patterns follows Ballerini’s 2023 mini-album with a heart on her sleeve Rolling up the welcome matwhich won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in February.

“I think that’s what happens when you turn 30, when you kind of take stock of your life,” says Ballerini, who adds that she feels “bare” on the album. “And I went up on air and said, ‘Okay, okay, let’s do a little inventory.’ What in my life do I love right now? What does discomfort feel like? What have I done for both of these things? What are my patterns? And what then do I want to work on and edit myself? And then in my closest, most interpersonal relationships, what do I want to change, challenge and also celebrate?”

The “Miss Me More” singer — who will celebrate the release with a sold-out album launch concert at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 29 before kicking off her first-ever headliner tour of the arena in January — did a lot of self-discovery while creating Patterns.

“One thing I’ve learned about myself is that in any relationship in my life… as soon as something feels scary, like it might go wrong, my habit and my unhealthy pattern is to just saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to jump off the ship so I’ll hurt myself and they won’t hurt me,'” she says.

Ballerini adds, “I realized that it really wasn’t doing me any good, and sometimes the best thing that can happen to a friendship, relationship, or opportunity is to have the hard conversations and work through the emotional moment,” Ballerini adds. . “When you come out the other side of it, there’s so much beauty in that, and so much mutual respect in that fight for each other. And I think in my personal life I’m really proud that I finally took it on.”

Patterns out now