Kacey Musgraves perfected the ‘breakup-to-self-discovery-and-love’ album in 2021 with star-crossed.1 This trope has been repeated many times over the last few years — it’s become highly noticeable lately, though I’m sure it isn’t a totally new album concept in even the 2010s, much less the 2020s — including the debut albums by Fletcher2 and, to a lesser extent, Noah Cyrus,3 in 2022. All three of those albums ranked inside of my top ten in their respective years largely due to the way that they adhered to their conceptualization effectively and with absolutely stellar songcraft, but also because these were highly personal, emotionally-charged stories that they were telling.
I feel that it’s important to begin with this acknowledgement for several reasons:
Fletcher also has a new album out now, which I will also be writing a review for within a week of this one, and it’s going to be interesting to me to compare how these two artists have dealt with following up on their last albums;
It will be incredibly difficult for Musgraves to top the artistic and narrative powerhouse of star-crossed, and that expectation needs to be laid out up front;
And exactly how we begin to dissect Deeper Well needs the foundational understanding of the personal odyssey which star-crossed so clearly depicted — namely heartbreak, divorce, depression, and then personal growth through therapy and learning to love oneself and be okay standing on one’s own two feet.4
To begin breaking this down, I want to start with how Musgraves announced and explained the album:5 an ad in which she states that her Saturn has returned6 by using an audio clip of the opening line of the album’s title track, “Deeper Well”. The title track delves very specifically into the change of mindset and priorities that Musgraves has experienced over the last several years (since her 27th birthday in August 2015), and the album explores this more broadly, with each song focusing on a different relationship or experience or facet of existence.
It is important to note that the timeframe specified includes the entirety of her relationship – meeting, dating, engagement, marriage, and divorce – with Ruston Kelly, which means that this album includes significant overlap with its predecessor. The focal concept is just broad, in that sense, as it covers no shortage of topics over a 7+ year span. But the end-result is an album which feels incredibly thoughtful and reflective. It’s contemplative Pop Country.
And this vibe is amplified by Musgraves’ strong lyrics (Pitchfork is wrong on this point) and this deep-but-minimal approach to composition utilized on the album. In the album’s ‘About’ section on Genius, an interview with Zane Lowe is quoted7 in which Musgraves talks about the recording environment, specifically about walking through a park near the studio (probably Washington Square Park, given the studio’s location in Greenwich Village, NYC):
“When the outside environment is so maximalist I think it’s easier to go to a minimalist place in your mind. […] I found a greater connection to my roots, Folk, Americana, Country.”
I do not find any of the songs here to be truly minimalist in style, but they are greatly pared-down. And the utilization of elements in the composition of each song is so thorough that it doesn’t really feel like anything is missing. It’s never boring or bland; the already-great melodies feel properly supported and the vibe is never broken.
This is an album you can easily just relax with. It’s polished and pensive. It’s the sort of album you put on when you’re in turmoil and you need to find peace; or when you just need some chill, easy listening. It’s definitely going to get sorted onto some more downtempo playlists for my personal use and enjoyment.
I don’t believe it truly measures up against star-crossed, but it is a solid follow-up and an enjoyable listen.
Rating: Blue
Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed (2021)
Versatone Rating: Purple
2021 Ranking: 6th
Fletcher - Girl of My Dreams (2022)
Versatone Rating: Purple
2022 Ranking: 8th
Noah Cyrus - The Hardest Part (2022)
Versatone Rating: Purple
2022 Ranking: 9th
Would that my old reviews and Top 40s could be easily moved to this platform with very little work. Alas.
Because, frankly, I didn’t see any significant throughline until I found this detail.
Weirdly, this “Return of Saturn” concept is something I hadn’t heard before reviewing Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine, so to have it brought to my attention twice in such a short span (insert your Two Nickels meme audio here) feels like a glitch in the matrix. Weird how this sort of thing happens.
The link to that interview seems to be broken – or you need to try to access through an apple account or something?