Recognized by her successful country-pop album “Golden Hour,” Kacey Musgraves has established a name for herself that led her to partner with newly famed artists like Noah Kahan in “She Calls Me Back,” and Zach Bryan in “I Remember Everything.” Musgraves characterized “Golden Hour,” as representative of the golden hour of her personal life after being newly married. These positive feelings were interrupted by her divorce told through her album, “star-crossed.” Mainly criticized for being solely a pop album, “star-crossed,” was seen as a shift in Musgrave’s writing style.
March 15, Musgraves released a new album, “Deeper Well.” The soft, authentic and comforting theme of this album showed Musgrave’s return to her original style of music in “Golden Hour.” Though originally labeled as a country music artist with her 2015 album “Pageant Material,” resembling her childhood in Texas, I would say the title is no longer accurate. Although there are country elements in “Deeper Well,” I feel that it is still overwhelmingly a pop or indie album, especially with a song titled “Anime Eyes.”
The whole album is very spring-like and refreshing, almost as if it would be played as background music during a picnic.
With gentle strumming and her soft-like voice, it is comforting. I feel like that was her goal for the album, since the album was supposed to resemble her personal growth and thoughtfulness. Regardless of her beautiful voice and excellent instrumentation, the album started to feel repetitive. Each song began with a guitar intro and no lyric verses stuck out to me. The songwriting wasn’t as strong as her previous albums “Golden Hour,” and “Pageant Material.”
“Sway,” is one of the songs I consider to be more unique, making it one of my favorites from the album. The lyrics show Musgrave’s newfound growth and resilience through verses like, “Maybe one day / I’ll learn how to sway,” and “Like a palm tree in the wind / I won’t break, I’ll just bend.” “Sway” has a gentle thumping beat that remains throughout the whole song keeping rhythm. This song stood out to me because of the beautiful harmony towards the end of the song. Humming and vocalizing, the thirty seconds that Musgraves sings “I’ll Sway,” is incredibly soothing and freeing. It accentuates her vocal abilities and perfectly encapsulates the comforting theme of the album.
Although to me “Deeper Well,” is not an album that could be screamed in the car or danced to in your bedroom like “Pageant Material” was, it still shows Musgrave’s talent as a musical artist. It reminds me of other artists, especially Phoebe Bridgers from the style of instrumental and the lyrical choices. I would recommend this album for studying or when you just want relaxing music.
