Hear Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini’s Nostalgic Duet ‘Center Point Road’

Thomas Rhett joins up with Kelsea Ballerini to look back at the intertwined sweetness and recklessness of youth in the new duet “Center Point Road,” the title track from Rhett’s upcoming album.

Named for a stretch of pavement that cuts through Hendersonville, Tennessee, where Rhett grew up, “Center Point Road’ uses that sense of place as a tangible container for his memories. Rhett wrote the song with Jesse Frasure, Amy Wadge and Cleve Wilson.

With some vinyl-record crackle, insistent strings and piano that mirrors the melody, the song has a stately, chamber-pop feel even as it describes the uncertainty — and occasional messiness — of growing up. “We wrote our own destiny/In parking lots and empty streets/We got high on you and me/Jumped over cracks beneath our feet,” he sings. New Grand Ole Opry member Ballerini drops by for a second verse that laments the loss of uncomplicated pleasures like “drinking ’til your head was sorry/And dancing for the hell of it.”

“Center Point Road” is the sixth track to be released from Rhett’s new album, which arrives May 31st. He previously issued the Jon Pardi collaboration “Beer Can’t Fix,” “That Old Truck,” “Remember You Young,” “Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time” and the current single “Look What God Gave Her.” Rhett launched his Very Hot Summer Tour last week in Spokane, Washington, and this weekend plays two nights in Orange Beach, Alabama.