Interesting interview with Kacey as she works on the forthcoming album: The Cosmic Journey of Kacey Musgraves
Count me on board, as I'm sure are the many, many fans that came on via Golden Hour. It'll be very interesting what her approach is this time.
Would it not be better to "cut and paste" the relevant part of the interview for which you have started a thread on? I'm sure lots of folks on here wont have Rolling Stone subscriptions and therefore unable to read it.
It's a very lengthy interview, which is why I included the link (I don't have a subscription to RS and I was able to read the story with no problem). Plus the album is not really discussed too specifically since it's still in progress... At any rate, here's a little portion that discusses the new album: On the way to producer Daniel Tashian’s house to work on her new album, which is set to be released this year, she explains how two days ago she was in the process of sitting with her sadness, listening to Bach’s “Komm, süßer Tod, komm selge Ruh,” when suddenly the word “tragedy” sprung to mind. This got her thinking about Greek tragedies and the classic three-act narrative, which got her thinking about her divorce and also about the state of America and also about the state of the world at large, locked down and fearful. “This last chapter of my life and this whole last year and chapter for our country — at its most simple form, it’s a tragedy,” she figured. “And then I started looking into why portraying a tragedy is actually therapeutic and why it is a form of art that has lasted for centuries. It’s because you set the scene, the audience rises to the climax of the problem with you, and then there’s resolve. There’s a feeling of resolution at the end. I was inspired by that.” Soon she was thinking of Romeo and Juliet and the idea of being “star-crossed,” and the revelation that, of the 39 songs she’d thus far written over the course of the past few years, she could figure out which ones to use if she structured the album like a tragedy, grouping the songs into acts. Suddenly, the album that had seemed fairly nebulous began to take real shape in her mind. “It’s crazy because you have to just wait on it,” she says of that moment. “You can’t ask for it.” The conceptualization also showed her that she still needed one more song, the one that would be the “crescendo of the climax. And that’s what we’re going to play around with today,” she says, rolling the car to a stop in front of a white, brick house.
Thank you very much. Maybe its just overseas, but we get just the first 3 sentences of the story and then a "To read the full story""..... subscribe!!.
Sorry about that. It's really a good interview, so if you can read it at a news stand or book store (I'm not sure if either are open at this point), it's definitely worthwhile!
this will be very interesting. having not read this article, but have been watching her social media and a fan of her music - it's pretty clear Kasey is undergoing some sort of move to something far away from where she started. She's been posting a LOT of imagery and content of her travels and adventures, promoting her long-standing stance for LGBTQ and other social issues that belie her small-town East Texas beginnings. I would be more surprised if this new album is anywhere close to her existing guiatar based catalog than if she drops something very electronic, dance and out there.
Surprised to hear that her marriage broke up so quickly, the PR around the last album was all about how she had found her soul mate after breaking up with her former guitarist who had been in her band for years.
Aside from a couple of absolutely cringe-worthy tracks (I mean she still has to sell that modern-Nashville crowd), Golden Hour was a really solid AM-Gold pop record. Really wish they would remaster that vinyl release which was softer than wet toilet paper. Bought and sold it twice. Interested to hear where she goes next.
You can always count on Rolling Stone to have a right-out-of-left-field cover story. Didn't see Kacey coming. Not complaining at all....
Kacey talks a little more about the album, still a work-in-progress from the sounds of it... She name-checks influences on the new album: Bill Withers, Daft Punk, Sade, the Eagles, and Weezer. Kacey Musgraves On Her Upcoming Album, Writing Through Heartbreak
New article about the forthcoming album, with still no title, release date, etc! https://www.billboard.com/articles/.../kacey-musgraves-previews-post-divorce-album/
Finally! Kacey Musgraves 'Star-Crossed' Album Release Date, Track List Revealed - Variety The track list for “Star-Crossed”: 1. Star-Crossed 2. Good Wife 3. Cherry Blossom 4. Simple Times 5. If This Was a Movie.. 6. Justified 7. angel 8. Breadwinner 9. Camera Roll 10. Easier Said 11. Hookup Scene 12. Keep Lookin’ Up 13. What Doesn’t Kill Me 14. There is A Light 15. Gracias a la Vida
Not much of a song, really, but it’s the first track on the album and seems to be more of a prelude or overture to what is obviously a concept album than a banging lead single. Fairly bold move to release a lead single from an album that features nearly a minute of ambient synth wash and acoustic guitar doodling before the singer starts singing. I love her, but I’ll reserve judgment on this until we hear more of the album. The “companion film” looks koo koo for Cocoa Puffs, and not in a good way.
It sounds like Sade and Enya met up and had a nervous breakdown together. I mean, it might make sense in the context of the album, but as a lead single it’s piss poor.
I’m hoping for the best, but I’m not loving the more and more pop direction she’s taking. The Golden Hour was a pretty perfect record. She’ll be fortunate if she can ever duplicate its quality, but she seems more interested in having a bigger, broader pop career. I get it, but when you make an album as great as The Golden Hour and are playing to 90%+ young teen girls, where does that go? I hope I’m wrong, but the music she has made since then isn’t up to that level. I hope I’m completely wrong about her new album though.
Glad she's trying new things like talented artists should do. The Golden Hour was great, now never repeat that! Don't need Golden Hour part 2.
As with many before her, Taylor Swift is the most obvious recent parallel, Kacey’s relationship with the Nashville machine has been tenuous at best. On the one hand, her first two albums were musically too retro and classic country for modern mainstream country, while, on the other, the lyric of a track like “Follow Your Arrow”’s lukewarm endorsement of gay pride was “too controversial” for some gatekeepers of modern mainstream country. I’m hardly surprised she’s “going pop.” Golden Hour was and is a fantastic pop/country fusion, and I hope this album is, too. The first single and the music video teaser are not encouraging, but I’ll listen to the whole thing before judging.
Possibly that's why she waited to announce album details until the albums and CDs were manufactured -- though I will still be surprised if the vinyl really is available on September 10!
As long as there's no delay in shipping my embroidered handkerchief and pack of rhinestone stick-on tears I can wait for the vinyl.