Unreal how terrible her last two albums have been compared to the perfection she had on the previous albums.
Star-crossed largely doesn’t work, but I genuinely do not get someone liking her music at all but strongly disliking the last album. It was basically an earthier Golden Hour.
i've enjoyed all her records to varying degrees (star-crossed probably sits at or near the bottom though), i'm just happy to take whatever she gives us.
Deeper Well it's the definition of "fine" to me. It's inoffensive, it's chill, it's... there. Passive listening that doesn't have any hidden details reveal themselves over time, lyrics are non specific nor personal, they're fine. Whole thing feels pretty low effort, which is also fine, I just hope for something more because we've heard so much more
Deeper Well doesn’t have the highs of some of her others but I think it’s her best from top to bottom
Huh, I disagree with all of this pretty strongly. Are the lyrics about giving up weed on "Deeper Well" really less specific than a "getting high is great" anthem like "High Time"? Is the "list of things I'll miss when I die" of "Dinner with Friends" really less personal than the travelogue of "Dimestore Cowgirl"? I think the actual fair criticism most people have levied at Kacey's last few albums is that she mostly let go of the quirky country kitsch of the first two, but all her records save Star-crossed have a pretty similar "Nashville specificity" thing going on in the writing, where the lyrics are general enough to be pretty universal but sneak in specific details or recollections to feel more unique/resonant.
Deeper Well reminds me of my trip to Iceland with my wife. It came out then and we first heard it while driving across the sparse yet treacherous, and breathtaking landscapes. For that reason, it’s forever a personal record for me
for what it's worth, the 20 minute instrumental track she made in conjunction with Deeper Well has been a great soundtrack for some quiet moments/contemplative practice. the whole album puts me in a calmer mood when my anxiety is racing.
Deeper Well is great. I kind of get why it has a more muted reaction. But it's so pleasant and calming, and full of great moments. I also think the lyrics deserve more credit than they get.
Honestly? Yes, I do believe both of those things. I've heard the album 10+ times and don't even know how Dinner With Friends sounds without pressing play, looking at the lyrics I don't really connect at all. for me it's more than just kitsch though, it's a sense of something that is uniquely her, no one writes country songs as clever, catchy and singular as she used to for those first three records. A lot of artists do NOW after she did, but I just miss her doing it. Again, I don't dislike Deeper Well, but I think it's just pleasant and fine
Someone on the subreddit is claiming to have heard the album and describes it as "calm country" and a bridge between Pageant Material and Golden Hour. https://www.reddit.com/r/KaceyMusgraves/s/n2SEsoaMTo
Agree to disagree on those songs, I guess. I find “Dinner with Friends” to be one of her most moving songs ever. More broadly, though, I just really do not take issue with her kind of outgrowing the cleverness-first songwriting of those earlier albums. I love Pageant Material, but it’s so light and breezy and fun in a way that I just can’t imagine myself connecting with in the same way (let alone trying to write an album like it) in the year 2026. The world is not light and breezy and fun! Maybe it’s because I’m roughly the same age as she is, but I’ve really appreciated her grappling with weightier themes on her later albums, and shifting her songwriting mode to do that. Deeper Well struck me as this deeply existential album, and it’s stuck with me in a way that, say, the albums from Megan Moroney (definitely the clearest Kacey Musgraves descendent) don’t. Those Moroney albums are fun and catchy and clever and well-made in a way that Kacey’s first two were, but I always come away from them with a bit of an “empty calories” feeling. I think of Kacey were still writing songs where the punchlines were things like “Mind your own biscuits and life would be gravy,” I’d feel similarly. Best-case scenario for her might be something like the last Maren Morris LP, which had some wit and snark but also a lot of weight.
Really love Deeper Well, I’d put it 2nd behind Golden Hour. Came out at the exact right time for me (I was literally 27!) and the tour was perfect
Good call re: Maren, because I could see the argument that Hero & GIRL were to Maren what Trailer & Pageant were to Kacey, then Humble Quest is similar to Deeper Well, so if Kacey finds a vibe somewhere in the zone that DREAMSICLE ended up balancing I would be pretty into it.... love that album
I don't know if this has ever been posted in here, but I've been looking for a demo of this song for years, and I finally found one. CC: @cshadows2887