On March 15, Kacey Musgraves released her new album, Deeper Well, in which the country pop artist embraces a new facet of cottagecore, healing, and stripped back guitars. Musgraves has always been known in the music world as someone unafraid, always embracing camp and toeing the line between pop and country music. In this latest step, Musgraves shows once again that she is unafraid, this time in meshing her own life with her music.
The title track is the most reminiscent of past Musgraves eras with a country sounding guitar and a pop influenced production, but the vocals establish that Musgraves has gravitated towards a more folky sound. “Deeper Well” is my favorite track on this album because of its catchy lyrics, the way it’s not repetitive, and the fun guitar that contrasts some of the more laid-back songs on this album. Signs of a new, healing era are also evident in the lyrics of this song with references to astrology: “My saturn has returned,”, spirituality: “You’ve got a dark energy,”, and finding oneself: “So I’m gettin’ rid of the habits that I feel/Are real good at wastin’ my time,”
“Too Good To Be True”, “Dinner With Friends”, Giver/Taker” and “The Architect” round out my top 5 tracks with their messages and chill guitar tracks.
However, “Anime Eyes” is a failure to me. It starts, like all the other tracks, with a little unassuming guitar but by the time it reaches the bridge, it has built into loud drums and Musgraves is singing off beat and the rhythm has been lost. The lyrics also don’t appeal to me in particular but I could see this reaching an audience of anime fans with its references.
Musgraves has turned away from the theatrics of star-crossed and the synth of Golden Hour and drums have almost disappeared from this album completely. However, Deeper Well is so mellow that some of the tracks blend into each other too much. Also notable is the mindset change throughout the songs in comparison to her past albums.
Throughout this album, Musgraves makes it clear that she just doesn’t care anymore and she is now letting things roll off her back and not letting it get to her. I applaud this change to Musgraves’ person but it has caused her music to lose the bite and uniqueness that made Musgraves the camp cowgirl princess of her trade. Musgraves no longer plays with the wicked cliches and one liners that became her brand.
Genre wise, this album was definitely not made for your average country fan– there is no talk of trucks or beer or any of the stereotypical country music characteristics. Instead, this album keeps Musgraves rooted in the country music space with its acoustic guitar and similar melodies while subtly pushing her into a new folk inspired musical era.
Overall, this is a solid rainy-day album that takes a back-to-basics approach to country music that brings Musgraves into a new, folky sound. There are a few songs that I will definitely go back to, but some of this album feels unfinished and, ironically, lacking in depth.
My Rating: 6.7/10
