Well Played: A Review of Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well

When you dive into Kacey Musgraves’ lovely folk-country album, Deeper Well, you’ll likely discover the singer/songwriter secure, but searching. After love (captured on the masterpiece that is 2018’s Golden Hour) and loss (poured out on 2021’s star-crossed) come self-healing, (personal and professional) lessons learned, even a few unanswered questions, all reflected on 14 sonically soothing, acoustic-centered tracks, with Musgraves’ angelic voice at the heart (of the woods).

Here, Musgraves is at her earthiest. Throughout the album, she and her writing team have incorporated references to the natural world and its inhabitants, the seasons and the afterlife: With the opener, “Cardinal,” the scarlet-red bird is seen as a messenger “from the other side” (an expression Musgraves also adds to “Dinner with Friends”). She also asks: “Are you just watching and waiting for spring?” With “Too Good to be True,” Musgraves musters the courage to open herself up to that foreshadowed new beginning (“Summer’s gone, but you’re still here/For both of us, it’s been a year”), yet subsequently on “Moving Out,” cohabitation comes with challenges. She sings metaphorically, “That big tree in the front yard lost a limb,” and uses the season of autumn to signify the decay of that relationship, evidenced by the following track, “Giver/Taker” and its opening line: “Sundown and I’m lonely in this house.”

But it’s the title track, as well as “Sway” that document her quest for centeredness amid all the changes that life can bring “without a warning,” words expressed on “Too Good to be True” and similarly on “Cardinal.” Musgraves never pretends to have it all figured out; in fact, on “The Architect,” she paints a series of scenarios to convey a balance of curiosity and confusion about creation, and life on the planet, leading, once again, to confirm Musgraves’ knack for relatability through lyrical construction. By album’s end, “Nothing to be Scared of” finds her dipping her toes in the relationship waters once again. And if life and love ever get murky again, Musgraves now knows she can always go back to the well.

Photo 1: “Cardinal” music video, directed by Scott Cudmore; Photo 2 and 3: “My Saturn Has Returned” promo for Deeper Well (cinematographer: Mika Matinazad).

Kacey Musgraves: The Woman of the “Golden Hour”

If you didn’t see Kacey Musgraves as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” check it out. She performed two songs from Golden Hour: the country/disco, “High Horse” and the smooth “Slow Burn.” The unconventional marriage of country and disco on “Horse” works nicely (as it does on Kylie Minogue’s Golden), with its references to John Wayne and “giddy up/giddy up,” paired with a prominent bass line, congas, high-hat cymbal, and a sparkling saddle as mirror ball. With “Horse,” it appears as if Musgraves is stepping a bit out of her comfort zone, but then again standing on the “SNL” stage may turn the volume up on the nerves. Nonetheless, the creative departure is most welcome, and “Horse” is immediately catchy. She settles into the song and the performance, even towards the end serving a bit of ‘70s Cher, when Musgraves flicks her long black hair off each shoulder.

But more importantly, it’s Musgraves’ crystal voice that shines, especially on “Slow Burn,” her return to the familiar: acoustic guitar in hands; taking her “Slow Burn” time, revealing lyrics that keep to a traditional country sensibility, but with a modern take, something for which she is known (“Texas is hot/I can be cold/Grandma cried when I pierced my nose”). Its sound is tender, its pacing is beautiful, and the sweet spot is revealed in the second verse when the band comes in: drums kick; bass rolls; steel guitar slides.