Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well
by Macy Hill
I cannot stand male country music. I am weary to declare a controversial opinion like this with such certainty, but I have rarely been able to find a country song written by a man that has even slightly piqued my interest, as I do not drive a Ford truck and regretfully admit that cracking open a six pack of beer is not a common pastime for me. However, I thoroughly enjoy music written and performed by certain women country singers. My “holy trinity” of female country is Shania Twain, The Chicks, and Kacey Musgraves.
Kacey Musgraves is a Texas-born country singer and songwriter known both for her snappy, humorous writing style in songs like “Follow Your Arrow” and her moving storytelling in songs like “Rainbow.” Her most recent album Deeper Well, recorded at Electric Lady Studios and released in March of 2024, introduces a subsection of country music Musgraves has yet to enter. The singer has mastered the true, twangy country style in Same Trailer Different Park and Pageant Material, reached Grammy-winning success with her Album of the Year Golden Hour, experimented with synth-pop country in Star-Crossed, and, with Deeper Well, she has made a name for herself in the folk-influenced genre of country music.
Deeper Well is a delicately curated album that follows a nature-centered theme so closely that you will feel as if you are frolicking in a flower field, a slight breeze rustling your hair, while listening to its songs like “Heart of the Woods” or “Cardinal.” Musgraves creates a serene space to recount the lessons she has learned in her 36 years and marvel at things even the wisest souls will never understand.
The album’s opening track, “Cardinal,” introduces the nature motif that weaves through each song on Deeper Well. In this track, Kacey wonders if a cardinal bird she repeatedly sees is an omen or message. The song’s fast tempo slows abruptly in the bridge, giving it a unique twist that makes an otherwise pretty basic song stick out. In this bridge Musgraves wonders, “Are you just watching and waiting for spring? / Or do you have some kind of magic to bring?” She experiences a sense of uncertainty when she encounters the bird, a feeling prevalent through many songs on Deeper Well. “The Architect” is a track backed by guitar and banjo picks, made fuller with growing and fading piano accompaniment through the second verse to the bridge. This track voices the questions we have all wondered at one point or another, “Who created me, how and why?” Encapsulating the previous questions in more poetic words, in the outro Kacey sings, “This life that we make, is it random or fate? / Can I speak to the architect? / Is there an architect?”
Whether she is learning through romantic experiences or time spent reflecting in nature, Musgraves details the clarity she has acquired with each passing year of her life in “Deeper Well.” In this title track, backed by a delicate, harmonic fingerpicking pattern, Kacey describes her recent epiphany that she wants to move away from people and practices that are not catalysts for genuine happiness. A steady bass line adds depth to the song, as if each pluck of the instrument is one of Musgraves’ life experiences that has led her deeper into her well and given her a better understanding of herself. Kacey vocalizes the new lifestyle she wants to adopt, but she does not judge the older practices or people that once brought her joy, saying, “It’s natural when things lose their shine / so other things can grow.” “Deeper Well” encapsulates the idea that life is a journey of ever-evolving growth and maturity.
Kacey Musgraves is a master of metaphorical lyricism in Deeper Well, and her song “Moving Out” is proof. This song equates the arc of a relationship to moving in and out of a home. Musgraves sings, “And that big tree in the front yard lost a limb / It almost crushed your car, but it didn’t,” comparing a potentially ruinous consequence of nature to an unexpected conflict between two partners that was resolved. The analogy continues with the lyric, “Plantin’ roses all around / leavin’ it better than we found it,” where Kacey relates work in a relationship that betters a couple’s connection to yard work that leaves a house looking nicer. Narrative songwriting, like that executed in “Moving Out,” is the type of artistry that makes Kacey Musgraves a standout lyricist.
Though I don’t believe this album is sonically revolutionary, it is a rare album in its ability to provide listeners with a peaceful escape. “Sway” is one of the tracks with a calming effect; Kacey voices her hope that one day she can learn to surrender control and embrace a more flexible attitude. In the song’s outro, Kacey continues to sing in layered harmonious vocals, “I’ll sway,” as if she is manifesting this change to come for herself. The album’s closer “Nothing to be Scared Of” prepares listeners to brave the reality they will step back into when Deeper Well ends. Musgraves sings clear, strong notes affirming this message, as if it has a better chance of coming true the more confidently she sings it. The song details two partners who face personal anxieties and hesitations, but find solace in each other, like listeners find solace in this album. Though this album introduces numerous questions about existence, it ends with an insightful truth, that there is nothing to be scared of despite the doubts that roam in our minds.
Though I wish it included more witty lyrics and clever turns of phrase that made Kacey Musgraves one of my favorite writers, Deeper Well has introduced a new side of the musician. With her first attempt at the folk-country genre, Musgraves has created an impressive album that exhibits her skills as a diverse, genre-bending artist.