React: Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well
Kacey is Nothing to be Scared Of.
I’m admittedly not a huge Kacey Musgraves fan. The first time I ever listened to her music was her previous album, star-crossed. It wasn’t until then that I started listening to what would effectively introduce me to the modern country genre, Golden Hour.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, I was very excited to hear that she was releasing another album. While I don’t listen to her music as much as I’d like to, I do enjoy Kacey Musgraves music quite a bit. I remember listening to star-crossed on repeat after its release. Although, her duet with Noah Kahan on She Calls Me Back is on constant repeat in my household. It’s so good.
And quite honestly, this album has been on my back burner since its release. It’s now early May and I’ve not heard a single note from this album.
My hope is that Deeper Well brings Kacey Musgraves back into my regular music listening rotation.
So without further ado, here’s Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well.
Cardinal
Starting off strong. I love that tangy guitar riff. It’s going to sound weird but I sort of forgot how much I loved Kacey’s voice. I kind of love her lower register, slightly raspy voice.
Her backing vocal is great here, too. There are a few layers there and seems like there’s a male vocal to fill out the lower registers. You also have the shaker coming out of the left channel. It’s very low in the mix and I’d wager a lot of people missed it on first listen.
The bridge on this track is absolutely killer. Stripping away the drums and leaving just the bass line and two acoustic guitars coming out of each channel. Her talk-singing vocal really shines here.
Overall, I think this is an excellent track to start off the album. A very strong first track.
Deeper Well
It’s hard to say how the title track will go since I’ve only heard one track so far. As you already know, title tracks tend to make or break an album for me so we’ll see how it goes.
The mono vocal that’s doubled and placed on each channel is great. Gives it a backing vocal effect without it being a backing vocal. In fact, I think the most interesting thing about this track is that the center is, for the most part, left open with nothing occupying the space. It gives the song a sense of space.
The line, You go your way and I’ll go mine. It’s been a real good time. But you got dark energy, somethin’ I can’t unsee. And I’ve got to take care of myself. I found a deeper well is absolutely heartbreaking. Kacey’s love is strong. She enjoyed the experience, but staying in the situation causes herself harm so she’s trying to find her way out. Heartbreaking.
I love the hi-hat pattern in the second verse. It’s coming out of the left channel and has a good rhythm to it. With my love for hi-hats, I’m surprised I haven’t gotten too far into the country/jazz genres of music.
Oooh, a synth in a country track, that’s not something you hear often. Though, one could argue that Kacey has been going down this country-pop genre for a number of years now. So I guess in that way, it shouldn’t be too surprising.
Too Good to be True
Kicking things off with a muted guitar. What’s not muted? Her vocal. Sounds like the mixing engineer EQ’d the treble in her voice here. Very sharp and forward.
I think I’m hearing three different guitars here in the chorus. Two in the left channel and one in the right. Though, I might be wrong. It could be just the two guitars there.
I love the introduction of the drums in the second verse. It had me bopping my head almost immediately. But not in the upbeat, dance kind of way. More so, the "I love that beat" type of way. That includes the shaker coming out of the left channel.
Not too much commentary on this track, honestly. The pacing is a bit slower and nothing really stood out to me.
Moving Out
Right off the rip, this track is way different than the one that came before it. The guitar and drum combination lifts the mood quite a bit. I love the shaker taking place of a traditional hi-hat here. Another head bopper.
I can’t help but think that despite the track title, Moving Out, this track is more about moving on rather than out. I guess you could argue that the two are synonymous with one another.
Again, not a whole lot of commentary to give here. I do really like how we got about a minute of pure instrumentation at the end of the track. It gave me the chance to close my eyes and just imagine walking down a big landscape.
Giver / Taker
The beginning of this track reminds me of What’s Up? by 4 Non Blondes.
Immediately, as soon as the vocals came in, the thing that stood out to me is how much reverb there is on Kacey’s vocals compared to the first few tracks on the album. I guess if you have a line that says, It’s feeling one-dimensional to me you’re gonna want to have a relatively simple instrumentation setup. Which, in turn, gives you a lot of room to add a ton of reverb to the main vocals.
Again with the single layer synth. As per Roon, Deeper Well is a "country-pop" album, so I suppose having a bit of synth makes sense. The kick drum that comes in the second verse is uncharacteristically a little deep? In my opinion, it has a ton of sub-bass but almost no mid-bass.
Entering the chorus is a banjo-esk instrument in the left channel and a relatively quiet bass. If anything, the synth is taking the place of the bass.
So far, at least compositionally, Giver / Taker is my least favorite track. You know how editing and/or consistency errors in a movie/TV show can take you out of an experience? That’s how it’s feeling for me.
Sway
I love that this track starts with a synth and instrumentation gets layered as the song progresses until the first verse starts. I also love the digital tom drum pattern here as well. Gives it almost an electronic-pop sound.
Can’t get away from the shaker I suppose. It starts in the second verse and comes out of the right channel. I love the relatively basic composition of this track. Intro aside, there’s not really a ramp to the track, even in the bridge. It’s able to relatively maintain the same instrument structure and remain interesting.
And then there’s the a cappella ending. Absolutely gorgeous. It’s easily my favorite ending to a track on this album so far.
Dinner with Friends
Oh hey, a piano. Sounds weird to say, but so far this album has relied heavily on guitars (which are still here), synths, drums, and bass. If there was a piano in any of the previous tracks then I apologize. I must’ve missed it.
I can’t quite put it into words but I love the distorted acoustic guitar coming out of the left channel. It sounds like a high-pass filter was added to strip away any sharpness to it combined with a bit of distortion. It’s like having your Spotify settings on low or streaming a 64 kbps HE-AAC track on Apple Music.
Love the harmonies for the line From the other side. I also love the clap that’s introduced in the second verse. Up until the final chorus, it sounds like there’s only that clap and a relatively quiet kick drum. A light ride cymbal pattern is added in that final chorus. And of course, the harmonies that I loved are added back in that final chorus as well.
This might be one of my favorite tracks on the album so far. We’re only halfway through the album, but it’s def a top three track for me.
Heart of the Woods
Why am I already tapping my foot? The guitar riff coming out of the left channel. That’s why. And it’s a short track? That’s asking for me to love the track.
There’s that mono vocal track doubled and split into each channel again. That’s combined with the multiple vocal layers right from the start. Wow. And it sounds like that continues throughout the track.
Is that a guitar solo I’m hearing? I think it is. That guitar is uncomfortably loud. They definitely made it louder in post because you can kind of hear the white noise from the microphone they were using.
Add this to the list of potential top tracks on the album.
Jade Green
Smooth. The transition from Heart of the Woods to this track was perfect.
I love the two guitars that are split into both channels. But one is a hair higher pitched than the other. The driving guitars that play throughout are killer.
There’s that muted digital drum again coming in midway through the first verse. And what appears to be the sound of a VHS tape spooling up in the right channel.
The bass is luscious and smooth on this track. But the thing I love the most is that instrument that comes in during the chorus. I’m not sure what it is but it sounds like something coming out of Asia. Also sounds like this is the first time we’re hearing strings on the album. Possibly a violin there.
Just like the previous track, add this to the list of potential favorites on the album.
The Architect
It’s interesting that the entire chorus line is all a series of questions. But of course, I think the lyrics on this track have a deeper meaning. It’s about being unhappy about you and maybe your appearance. Sometimes I look in the mirror and wish I could make a request. Could I pray it away? Am I shapeable clay?
I think most people can relate to it as no one will be 100 percent happy about who they are and what they look like. Kacey is also questioning if this is all a part of the grand design or if she’s able to tweak it at an individual level.
To a lesser degree, but I love the guitar solo here. It’s a nice break transitioning into the final chorus of the track.
Overall, I think this is the first track on the album that spoke to me lyrically rather than musically.
Lonely Millionaire
I love the muted instrumentation during the intro. Drew me in immediately. I’m a sucker for the melodramatic arts. The high-pass filtered drums and piano are great.
Oddly enough, I think this track is a banger. I’m bopping my head and tapping my foot to this song. Dare I say it, I hear a tiny bit of R&B influence here. The song is giving me 21 vibes by H.E.R.. It’s not a 1:1 obviously, but my mind is telling me the guitar riffs are similar.
Of course, the track is about money and how it doesn’t buy happiness. The money and the diamonds and the things that shine can’t buy you true happiness.
I love the outro to this track with some light ad-libs, allowing for the instrumentation to truly shine.
Heaven Is
The ramp to this track is fantastic. The guitar gets progressively louder and her vocal gets more aggressive.
I think this track is tied to the previous track in the sense that Lonely Millionaire is telling her partner how they could change, while this song is all about what she’ll do to make things happen. I don’t care for money or fame. All, for you, I’d give it away.
The vocals on this track are very intimate and raw. I can almost feel the sadness in her voice. Again, it’s another track that pulled me in lyrically, rather than musically.
Anime Eyes
I love the introduction of the drums in the last bar of the first verse. It’s soft and subtle. Of course, it gets slightly more aggressive as the track progresses.
The harmonies/backing vocals on this track are great as well. Unlike a few other tracks on the album, it sounds like it’s purely Kacey’s vocal here. It’s not blended in with another person’s vocal.
The instrumentation break before the bridge is great. The bridge itself is excellent. I love the use of talk singing here. It’s giving a sense of panic (in the best way possible). Let it all out, Kacey. Tell us how you really feel.
Nothing to be Scared Of
Alright, onto the last track of the album. Hopefully, we can close it out strong.
What a beautiful track to end the album on, really. It sounds like she’s on the upswing and is working on her recovery. She’s trusting the other person in the relationship. She’s able to be vulnerable.
This’ll be the only track on the album that I’m absolutely balling my eyes out. Again, it’s such a beautiful track. I don’t know what else to say.
Conclusion
I had no idea what to expect coming into this album. As I mentioned earlier, Kacey Musgraves kinda fell out of rotation for me in my daily music listening. I’m not quite sure if Deeper Well will bring her back into my rotation if I’m being completely honest.
However, I think Deeper Well has quite a great mix of country, country-pop, and straight up pop tracks. For the most part, each track was able to pull me in and grab my attention in their own ways. Nothing to be Scared Of was a curveball in the best way possible. It proved that things do get better.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed listening to Deeper Well quite a bit. I’d say if you were a fan of her work before, this album will feel right at home.
NOTE: This reaction was completed after listening to Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves on Tidal with a Tidal Subscription and Max enabled via Roon (mix of 16-bit, 44.1 kHz and 24-bit, 44.1 kHz tracks).