Reviews are coming in for the new record.. Stereogum gives it a pretty great review here: Review: On 'star-crossed,' Kacey Musgraves Says Goodbye To Her Marriage And Country Music
That review makes me excited to hear the whole album. Interesting that the playing time is 47 minutes for 15 songs... I guess I expected it to be much longer -- not that that's a bad thing! 1. "Star-Crossed" 3:19 2. "Good Wife" 3:51 3. "Cherry Blossom" 3:04 4. "Simple Times" 2:47 5. "If This Was a Movie.." 3:15 6. "Justified" (Musgraves, Fitchuk, Ilsey Juber, Brandon Joyner Burton) 3:01 7. "Angel" 2:20 8. "Breadwinner" (Musgraves, Fitchuk, Juber, Burton) 3:21 9. "Camera Roll" 2:39 10. "Easier Said" 3:07 11. "Hookup Scene" 3:21 12. "Keep Lookin' Up" 2:46 13. "What Doesn't Kill Me" (Musgraves, Andrew Neely, Dante Jone, Dewain Whitmore Jr.) 2:17 14. "There Is a Light" 3:52 15. "Gracias a la Vida" (Violeta Parra) 4:32 Total length: 47:32
She also co-wrote Miranda Lambert's biggest song, "Mama's Broken Heart," which Miranda apparently had to beg to record. Kacey wrote a lot of her early stuff with Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark (and a few others). Nothing wrong with collaborating to make a song better. All those early songs (pre-Golden Hour) have a wit and turn-of-phrase that is obviously the result of laborious back-and-forth to get a song as sharp as possible. Top 10 album of all time for me. A really gorgeous sounding record. Happy to have it on vinyl, too!
I'm surprised the vinyl seems to be on track to be released this Friday. It seems maybe Kacey was holding off on announcing the release details until she was sure the vinyl was on hand. I also am a bit surprised given that she describes this as a "3-act Greek tragedy" that she didn't spread the music out over 3 sides of vinyl.
The reviews on Any Decent Music are generally positive but almost all of them focus on the lyrics. As someone whose first KM album was 'Golden Hour' I'm more interested to hear if this is a return to her country roots or not. Thankfully Paste Magazine discuss the sound of the record as much as the words. https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/kacey-musgraves/kacey-musgraves-star-crossed-album-review/ star-crossed by Kacey Musgraves reviews | Any Decent Music
The tracks are up on Youtube now for everyone to check out too. I half played/skimmed through, but I think I'm taking the Exit on this album, nothing is 'speaking to me'. She's lost me a bit this time...
I gave it a listen on Spotify and stylistically it follows along the same path set by Golden Hour. Musically it's not as consistently thrilling or captivating. The songs are brief and the 15 tracks run just under 48 minutes. The main problem I have with this album is that it too often comes across as a high school teenage romance gone awry rather than a truly heartbreaking, soul crushing divorce between two adults. Without comparing it to other records (Ok, how can you not compare it to Blood On the Tracks after viewing the promos?) Kacey's "pain" and "anguish" appear comparatively lightweight. I don't doubt that she has gone through an emotionally draining ordeal but her ability to convey that in music is limited and it never really delivers beyond a surface wound. That being said, it's a decent pop album. It doesn't live up to the hype and I wasn't expecting it to but there are a few good pop moments sprinkled throughout, mostly on the first half of the record, but right now that alone doesn't appear to be enough to suck me back in once it's over.
Forgot this was out today. Nice for it to be released so quickly. I’m sick of those long roll outs where a single is released with the album following behind 4 months later!
As someone who liked Golden Hour but rarely revisit it, I went in with no real expectations and was pleasantly surprised. This is a solid album from start to finish with great production and nice vocals from Kacey. I look forward to listening again and giving the songs more time to soak in. "there is a light", "cherry blossom", and "breadwinner" were some of the highlights for me on my first playthrough.
It's the internet, people have to nitpick over every aspect of everything regardless of its actual quality. I hope you give the album a chance and find something within it to enjoy like I did
Well said. Nobody has to enjoy everything (or anything) she does, but at the end of the day, Kacey is making the art she wants to make and bringing joy and comfort to a lot of people around the world. That's more than most snarky armchair critics have accomplished.
Kacey talking about the album on Stephen Colbert. "A Rollercoaster Of Emotion" - Kacey Musgraves On Making Her Album + Film, "star-crossed"
While I can't drop a proper opinion of the album yet, as I'm working my way through it currently (on keep lookin' up), I initially found the pop heavy first act a little much, but the more acoustically driven section I'm on makes this make a lot more sense. I agree that breadwinner is a highlight, but the run has been extremely solid since that point. (Just for personal context, I say this as a huge fan of Golden Hour as well as a surprising chunk of modern pop).
Not sure if this very positive review has been posted here yet: Kacey Musgraves delivers her most honest, bare-bones album yet with 'Star-Crossed' (review)
I agree. This year, pop starlets are focusing on relationships and life. Kasey about divorce. Clairo about embracing the idea of motherhood (she’s actually holding her dog on the album cover as she ponders children… um.. not even close). Halsey about becoming a mother (check out the pretentious hype on that album, it’s like she’s the only woman who’s ever given birth). It’s all been done somewhere else before. I’m at the age that female artists under 35 …. well, let’s just say I don’t care about their perspective on life because it is new to them. I just want to hear some pop music to lighten my mood. Generation gap officially leaped…. lol
On first listen, this strikes me as a step down from Golden Hour, although individual tracks such as “Hookup Scene” and “There Is a Light” are brilliant.
I'm on my second listen now and it's beginning to really gel for me. The first one was over breakfast. I wasn't blown away. Nor was I paying full attention, which this album definitely demands. It's not as instantly rewarding as Golden Hour, but probably stronger on a song-by-song basis IMO. Lots of things to unpack here, so a good candidate for repeat listening.
I’ve listened to the first 8 songs this morning. The songwriting is better than that starcrossed single. My first impression is that I hate a lot of the production choices. The acoustic guitar with a drum machine is just awful though. I wish they’d have released a version with real instruments instead of a computer baking her voice up. There’s not much country at all in there. She’s gone full on pop star.
Gave it a listen on Spotify this morning. Agree with those who said she’s continued with the Golden Hour sound. It doesn’t have much in common with her first 2 albums, that’s for sure. The songs are perhaps slighter on the new record, but it’s the first time I’ve heard it and I have a feeling this album will be a grower. Didn’t care for the final track though... It was the longest song on the set and seem to be produced to sound as unpleasant as possible. Even vinyl won’t save this one.
I find it interesting that people feel this is a continuation of Golden Hour, as honestly it feels totally removed from the sound and feel of that album to me.
