Kelsea Ballerini starts fresh.

The country superstar, 31, released her fifth studio album Patterns on Friday, October 25, and the 15-song collection features some of her most vulnerable songwriting to date as she unpacks from divorce and enters a new decade of her life.

“I think that’s what happens when you turn 30 and you kind of judge your life,” Ballerini — who says the album makes her feel “naked” — tells PEOPLE exclusively. “And I came up for air and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s do a little inventory here. What am I loving in my life right now? What feels uncomfortable? What have I contributed to both things? What are my patterns? And what do I want to work on and edit myself? And what do I want to work on, challenge and celebrate in my closest, most interpersonal relationships?’”

Ballerini adds: “That’s actually thematically the whole record. It’s just a deep dive into early 30s self-evaluation.”

Ballerini also felt more clarity after going through her Saturn return.

“Mine was a kick in the ass,” she says, “and I feel like now I’m coming out the other side, I’m like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t mean things are shiny and perfect, but I definitely have a better handle on my life now.” “

The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter had many moments of self-discovery while working on the album. For example: “I was a big ghoster,” she says.

“Looking at myself in the mirror and my relational habits and patterns on this record is at the forefront,” Ballerini explains. “One thing I’ve realized about myself is that in every relationship in my life, with my career, with my friends, obviously with a partner, as soon as something feels scary, like it could go wrong, my habit and my unhealthy pattern to just say, ‘Oh, I’m going to jump ship. So I hurt myself and they don’t hurt me.’ ”

But she is in a healthier place today after confronting that trait.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that that really doesn’t help me, and sometimes the best thing that can happen to a friendship, a relationship or an opportunity is having difficult conversations and working through an uneasy moment,” Ballerini adds. “When you come out the other side, there’s so much beauty in that, and there’s so much mutual respect for that fight for each other. And I think that, in my personal life, this is something that I’m really proud of having finally addressed.

In August 2022, Ballerini filed for divorce from fellow musician Morgan Evans, 39, after nearly five years of marriage. The fallout from that split formed the basis for her critically acclaimed 2023 EP Rolling up the welcome mat – now, Patternsis partly inspired by how she’s moved on since: she started dating Outdoor benches actor Chase Stokes, 32, in January last year.

“I think it took me a second later Welcome Matt to get my bearings and catch my breath and really figure out how that’s really connected, and then how do I translate that into a record in a completely different part of my life,” Ballerini says. “And honestly, I think I really had to give myself some grace to live my life, have a life to write about and take the time. I think I’m so goal-oriented and I like to make sure that I’m always putting things out there and doing things and forward movement and all that, and just giving myself the space to make this happen in the time that it needed to be done.”

When it came time to start working on the project, that was going to be it PatternsBallerini relied on a close circle of female songwriters to collaborate with.

“It really started to take shape when I did my first writing retreat and I did that with four other women that I love, who are just pillars in the music industry and certainly in Nashville, and they are my friends,” she says. “I didn’t know where to start, so I was like, ‘Hey, you guys are my friends. You are so safe. Can we just go away for a few days, throw paint on the wall and see if we can find a home base here?’ And we wrote “Two Things,” “Baggage” and “Sorry Mom” during that first retreat. And I was like, ‘I feel like whatever this little kind of core is, that’s what I want to expand on,’ so then I felt confident enough to really get involved with those women and make the record.

Ballerini will celebrate the release with a sold-out album launch concert at Madison Square Garden on October 29, before embarking on her first-ever headlining arena tour in January.

Patterns is out now.