Kelsea Ballerini is the new artist on the independent country label Black River Entertainment. Recently named one of CMT's "Next Women of Country" she has now released a self-titled EP before the release of her debut album next year. The EP is a mix of fun songs such as "Dibs" and songs that come from very personal experiences such as "First Time."

I didn't end up posting any singles rundowns between August and October, so I figure that it'd be a good idea to compile a bunch of the singles released recently for more posts. In this post: Sheppard, lots of Meghan Trainor, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, etc.

I am ridiculously late. I know this. The album was released on the 12th of August and it is almost December. *hangs head in shame* But I decided that late was better than never, especially considering how awesome the album is. (It's actually the second-most played album in my iTunes.) Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's one of my favorite albums ever, even if it's nothing like her previous releases. Did I mention that for a few days after its release I listened to literally nothing but it? For someone with ~2000 songs in my iTunes, that really means I'm obsessed.

Youtube star Megan Nicole has made a career for herself by releasing covers of all sorts of popular songs and also occasional singles on Radio Disney and other stations. This year, 2 after the release of B-E-A-Utiful, Megan Nicole is finally putting out a longer release after leaving Bad Boy Records. The EP is appropriately titled Escape, and represents a return to the "real Megan" as well as a lot of empowerment. 

Maddie & Tae had a hit over the summer with "Girl in a Country Song", a diss to "bro-country". They received both a lot of praise and significant criticism from people who claimed that they should've worn more clothing in their music video (but, um, have you seen the videos and performances by other big country artists?) Florida Georgia Line also said that they didn't know a single girl who wouldn't want to be a girl in one of the popular country songs (ie, their songs). Well, first of all, that's one of the most egotistical statements I've heard in a while, and second of all, here are two. 

For You is Selena Gomez's greatest hits album of a sorts with a few remixed tracks and some new ones, and was literally released so she could fulfill her contract with Hollywood Records and go onto Interscope. That being said, it certainly wasn't done halfway in the slightest, and has a point beyond being just a contract fulfillment, especially considering all the latest drama going around with her being in rehab and all the Justin Bieber things.

This album is the follow up to Colbie Caillat's earlier release of the Gypsy Heart EP. (You can see my review of it here.) In this album, she's taken a very pop direction, working with people such as the producer Babyface, Toby Gad, Johan Carlsson (a member of the Sweedish alternative group Carolina Liar) and Max Martin (Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry). Surprisingly, there was also a cowrite with Liz Rose (cowriter of You Belong With Me and Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift) on the album, "Never Getting Over You". There are a few standouts on the second half of the album, namely "Land Called Far Away" and "Never Getting Over You". Other than that, the rest of the tracks are either decent but overly repetitive or just not good at all. 
In general, I'd really only recommend four tracks on this album: Never Getting Over You, Land Called Far Away, Try and Never Gonna Let You Down. There are two tracks that are honestly to me not even worth a listen: Nice Guys (yup, we totally need more songs that are subtle-y misogynistic and guilt women into getting in relationships with guys who feel entitled to them) and Just Like That (way, way, way, way, way repetitive....see, that way got old fast!) Break Free, Bigger Love, and Floodgates are all worth a listen, but get a little boring. 
Hopefully, the popularity of Try and the positive comments many reviewers are making about Never Getting Over You will make Colbie Caillat's label realize they made a big mistake pushing her towards pop. It's not that the album was so bad overall — it's just that she could've done so much better. 7/10.