Kacey Musgraves offers clear-eyed candor as she explores a 'Deeper Well'
Always more progressive than her current country peers, Kacey Musgraves is also celebrated for her refusal to trade authenticity for success.
That commitment is even more devout on âDeeper Well,â her fifth studio album out Friday that feels as if Musgraves had the Time-Life Music âSounds of the Seventiesâ collection on repeat.
This is not a negative assertion.
In the 11 years since her outstanding debut album, âSame Trailer, Different Park,â Musgraves has dabbled in psychedelic pop â her last album, 2021âs âStar-Crossedâ â and deftly merged country with yacht rock on her 2019 Grammy album of the year winner, âGolden Hour.â
A shift toward country-folk-soft rock on âDeeper Wellâ feels right â and yes, genuine â as Musgraves, 35, matures and continues self-exploration with clear-eyed honesty.
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Despite recording at New Yorkâs famed Electric Lady Studio â sometimes working in the room that served as Jimi Hendrixâs bedroom â âDeeper Wellâ has the vibe of contemplative woods and placid streams.
These are some of the best among the 14 songs on the album:
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âCardinalâ
The albumâs opening track is a study in signs â what we tell ourselves, what we choose to see â after the loss of someone. Musgravesâ poetry about seeing the title bird after the death of a friend and the comfort she feels in its presence is deeper than a mere rumination on reincarnation. The midtempo song chugs along pleasantly until its ethereal bridge finds Musgravesâ wondering if the bird âhas some kind of magic to bring?â Admit it. Youâve been there, too.
âDeeper Wellâ
Itâs the albumâs title song and its longest, at just under four minutes. But Musgraves packs plenty of sugarcoated barbs into that economical space as sheâs âsaying goodbye to the people who are real good at wasting my timeâ without regret or remorse. Sheâs ditching the dark energy for self-preservation, giving up the bong that greeted her every morning and embarking on a new life path with candor and strength.
âToo Good to Be Trueâ
Musgraves has always been a forthright songwriter who never shied from open-hearted lyrics. Here, her vulnerability is palpable as she sings the simple message âbe good to me and Iâll be good to you.â But there is a hint of skepticism in her tone, suggesting that Musgraves is well aware that maybe the good things really are too good to be true. A lulling cadence pushes the song, and if the chorus sounds familiar, it contains an interpolation of Anna Nalickâs 2004 hit, âBreathe (2 AM).â
âAnime Eyesâ
Many dreamy choruses are peppered throughout "Deeper Well." But on âAnime Eyes,â Musgraves uses her chorus as a Trojan horse, loping along pleasantly until an unexpected detour into a swirling bridge that offers a mixing bowl of topics cataloged by Musgraves: rainbows, lightning bolts, ugly crying and angels singing, among them. Then the song turns even softer as it ushers the listener out on a cloud of sound.