May 1st brings the Flower Moon (so called because spring is now in full bloom) and it’s a perfect day for the return of our cherry blossom baby Kacey Musgraves with her new album ‘Middle of Nowhere’. Now there’s been some complaining this week among Kacey fans about the way the critics have called this... Continue Reading →
May 1st brings the Flower Moon (so called because spring is now in full bloom) and it’s a perfect day for the return of our cherry blossom baby Kacey Musgraves with her new album ‘Middle of Nowhere’.
Now there’s been some complaining this week among Kacey fans about the way the critics have called this album a ‘return to form’, not because they don’t like the album but because that comment seems to dismiss her last two albums Deeper Well and star-crossed. Look I loved Deeper Well, especially the title track and ‘The Architect’ which were sanity-saving songs to me but there was definitely some filler on that album, mainly in the second half. I also liked star-crossed at the time and still listen to a few songs on there but Kacey did seem kind of awkward and unhappy in that era, so I do understand where the critics are coming from.
What both those albums really missed, and what Middle of Nowhere has in spades is simple: country music and a sense of humour. When you hear Middle of Nowhere Kacey sounds like herself again and, well, thank fuck for that. We need her genius now more than ever.
Kacey has always been adamant that she never left country music and now she has an album that is undisputedly of the genre. Still she hasn’t rehashed her first two albums or tried to recreate Golden Hour, instead Middle of Nowhere has a new minimalist country sound, with flourishes of Mexican folk influences which bring a different dimension to her aesthetic. Kacey just can’t help being effortlessly cool and unafraid to experiment – no wonder she’s one of the most influential artists of her era.
Sticking with producers and co-writers Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk keeps a thread of continuity back to Golden Hour and in many ways this feels like a more natural sequel to that album than the last two. Opener ‘Middle of Nowhere’ has her going back home to Texas, to her childhood cabin, happy to escape. ‘Don’t tell me you miss me / I don’t care / I’m somewhere in the middle of nowhere’ might even be a kiss off to some of those critics who questioned why she had ‘given up’ country music.
The wry humour and huge hooks of her early songwriting are back and then some on Dry Spell. It’s her funniest and frankest song ever. You just can’t imagine any other mainstream country singer could have the balls to sing a song as brutally honest as this one. So while the video might make her Nana blush, her ability to not give a fuck what people think is why she attracts so many fans from all walks of life.
Those who might question whether these indie producers can do traditional country should be reassured by ‘Back on the Wagon’ which has airy pedal steel and the kind of naively optimistic lyrics which somehow sound like the saddest thing in the world.
‘I Believe in Ghosts’ is a soft, swoosh of country disco, like a more gentle High Horse. ‘Abilene’ has a real groove about it too, telling the story of a woman who quits her small town in Texas. ‘Rhinestoned’ is the other song on the album which has a little disco sparkle, even if it’s as hazy and laid back like the title suggests.
The heart of the album is ‘Loneliest Girl’, the third in her ‘Lonely’ trilogy of songs that began with ‘Lonely Weekend’ from Golden Hour where she felt somewhat abandoned and alone in a world of FOMO, followed by ‘Lonely Millionaire’ on Deeper Well where she asked the question ‘Who wants to be a lonely millionaire? / Coming home ain’t no one there.’ For the final instalment she’s found contentment, acceptance, even peace in embracing her lonely girl life. She’s ’not even mad at all the people in love’, asking us all to ‘give it up for the loneliest girl in the world’. There’s a real vulnerability to the way she looks into the deeper well of her psyche and tries to answer the question as to how she’s ended up like this and why despite it all, she’s actually ‘alright’ with being by herself. Can’t wait to get together and ugly cry along to this one with all the other lonely girls on tour.
What also makes this album different than the last two is how many guest features are included. The first is Gregory Alan Isakov on the haunting ‘Coyote’, then Billy Strings makes an appearance on the brilliant take down of Nashville cosplayers on ‘Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy’ and Willie Nelson adds his legendary vocals to the break-up song ‘Uncertain, Tx’.
The really head-line grabbing collaboration is of course Horses and Divorces featuring none other than her old nemesis, and fellow Texan legend, Miranda Lambert. After a long simmering feud, dating back to the recording of Mama’s Broken Heart, Kacey decided to bury the hatchet and dropped Miranda a DM asking if she wanted to work on a song idea. The result is a genuinely heart-warming and hilarious duet that addresses their shit-talking history with tongue in cheek nods to ‘High Horse’ and that viral award show moment. What makes this song an instant classic is how they find the common ground in horses, divorces, smoking, drinking, cussin’ and of course Willie Nelson, concluding ‘maybe we’re more alike than we think.’ As someone who’s a huge fan of both these artists, I laughed, cried and then hit repeat. Hearing its simple, yet profound message of growing up and just letting all the bullshit become ‘whiskey under the bridge’ made me believe in the possibility of world peace, even if it was just for the two minutes of the song.
After that cathartic moment she heads back over the border for more ‘Mexico Honey’, a song whose title gives credit to the country which has inspired so much of the sound of the album. The song tells the story of her breaking her ‘dry spell’ and having the time of her life falling for a sexy new crush.
So it’s interesting then that she chooses to finish the album with a starkly arranged, heartbreaking ballad called ‘Hell on Me’ which goes back and addresses the reasons that her previous relationship failed. Her vocals are emotionally devastating and yet the album ends with a sense that time has healed the open wound, she’s done the work to ‘sort it all out’ and come to a new understanding of why golden hour had to fade to black.
On ‘Middle of Nowhere’ Kacey sounds like she’s found the place where she belongs – a musical home and state of mind she’s constructed for herself from years of genre experimentation and personal excavation. The queen of the lonely girls continues to reign supreme.
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