How Kacey Musgraves Stays Golden

          

(Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)

          

          Kacey Musgrave’s fourth studio album, Golden Hour, takes country music, and mixes it with 

pop synths to create one of the best albums of the year. Kacey isn’t afraid to discuss the taboos of contemporary social life like smoking weed, same sex relationships, and the male patriarchy. Her fresh outlook and sound are completely different from anything she’s recorded in the past. This year, she was awarded album of the year at the 2019 Grammy Awards and best country album . Kacey Musgrave’s songwriting has an effortless relatability that enhance the music itself. As a listener you are taken on a journey with her starting with falling in love to having a positive outlook on life when challenges arise. Although her album is criticized for not having the typical country twang, she interprets her Texas roots into an innovative new sound for her fans this time around. For these reasons, I believe Golden Hour, is Kacey Musgrave’s best recorded studio album yet and showcases her growth as an artist and the potential of where she is headed in the future. 

          The album itself is called Golden Hour, because Kacey believes she is in her golden years. She dedicates most of her new outlook on meeting her new husband and falling in love. Her first couple songs, “Love Is a Wild Thing”, and “Oh, What a World”, describes her state of mind before she fell in love, how she is hopeful to find her other half yet longing for a real connection. Her lyrics are insightful and as a listener you can hear the authenticity of her storytelling. Her words are warm and enveloping, in a place between heartbreak and healing. She reminds us that life is beautiful if you take a moment to stop and just enjoy it without a need to always control the outcome. For example, in “Space Cowboy”, she sings about letting her new found love to have their own space and not needing to constantly be together all the time to have a meaningful relationship (Breihan 1).

          Golden Hour’s only criticism is that its a genre-bending album and the classic country music fan base feel it does not deserve the title of a “country album”. However, the fact that Kacey is able to cover so many genres, yet, stay true to herself is still impressive. This jump-over displays how she is able to grow as an artist and not stay stagnant. She is not afraid to try new sounds to express her new perspective on life. Although you can hear her musical influences, like the Bee Gees, and Abba, her country roots are still prevalent in songs like “Velvet Elvis”. Her songs feel like a lazy afternoon in the sun, hanging out in the fields, but with a slight disco influence. With this new approach to music making, Kacey has catapulted into the mainstream to reach new highest and attract new listeners who would not usually listen to a country album.

          Although this album is about falling in love, Kacey Musgraves is writing about taking drugs, falling in love with the same sex, and the male dominated music industry. Her authenticity and modern take on country music is what new listeners praise and respect in this new work. In the song “Wonder Woman”, she sings about being a wonder woman whenever she is able to stay true to herself when all the men around her try to manage and change her into something different. In “Rainbow”, the topic of same-sex relationships is discussed and she has encouraging words by saying “there’s always been a rainbow above your head, amidst the clouds”. These are controversial subjects to tackle in a very conservative music genre such as country music. Nevertheless, Kacey Musgraves chooses to write about them and mention her experiences as authentically as possible and it translates to her listeners (Metacritics).

          In Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves takes a bold chance to renew her sound, and with that her subject matter too. This album is not just another work filled with love songs, the strong songwriting, coupled with fresh musical experiments take her music to the next level. The order of the songs take the listener on a personal journey into Kacey’s inner most deep feelings and her place in the world as a woman in today's world. For these reasons, I believe Golden Hour is her best album released to date. While other works seem too engineered, Kacey Musgraves’ new sound is unique, yet nostalgic at the same time which contributed to her recent great success in the music industry.




Works Cited:

          “Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves.” Metacritic, MCA, 30 Mar. 2018, www.metacritic.com/music/golden-hour/kacey-musgraves.


          Breihan, Tom. “Kacey Musgraves Album Review: 'Golden Hour' Is a Dizzy-in-Love Country Opus.” Stereogum, 27 Mar. 2018, www.stereogum.com/1988591/album-of-the- week-kacey-musgraves-golden-hour/franchises/album-of-the-week/.


          Kacey Musgraves. Golden Hour, MCA Nashville, 2018.

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