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Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed

Florian Buechting Media Review No Comments

Kacey Musgraves - Star-Crossed

Kacey Musgraves - Star-Crossed
3.1

Rating

 3.1/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very personal album
  • Great voice
  • 15 songs

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Too thin pop songs

Will he rather head towards pop music or still keep a bit of her country music heart? There was definitely a significant interest in Kacey Musgraves and her 2021 album, Star-Crossed. The release date has been 10th September 2021.

 

Kacey Musgraves – About The Artist

Kacey Musgraves’ hometown is Sulphur Springs in Texas. The 15,000 people city is located East of Dallas. She was already an active musician in very early teenage years, as she was part of Texas Two Bits, a children country music duo, which even released an album the same year and was invited to perforam at a George W. Bush event. Thereafter, at the age of 14, Musgraves funded her solo debut album. The album just had demo status, but has been released later.

The first professionally released album was Same Trailer Different Park in March 2013. The album was a huge success, topping the US Country charts and being second in the US overall charts. Musgraves’ debut also had significant chart positions in country like Canada or the United Kingdom. Even though none of the singles of the album peaked high in the charts, any of them became a platinum record n the USA.

Musgraves’ previous album was Golden Hour, which was quite a departure from country already. Excluding her early releases, Star-Crossed i the fifth album by the artist.

 

Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed – Track by Track

The fifteen track album lasts 48 minutes.

1. Star-Crossed

The key topic of the album is the divorce of Kacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly. The opener (and title track) is a full length song, but overall does not feel like more than a (too) extended intro to me. Atmospheric illustration of her amazing vocal capabilities, if you want to have some deeper description.

2. Good Wife

Wake him up nice and slow
Bring him coffee in bed
Listen to his problems
Tell him that I understand
Touch him so he knows in his heart he’s the only one
Try to loosen up and be more fun
Yeah, I could be more fun
God, help me be a good wife
‘Cause he needs me
Even when he’s not right
He still needs me

The quote above is the first verse and the chorus. Very traditional and non-emancipated view about family. The lyrics even make me think even more when she states And the truth is I could probably make it on my own // But without him the house just wouldn’t be a home. The longer I listen to this track, which is a thin pop song with acoustic guitar sounds on the melodic side, the more I want to spot that it is intended to be ironic or so. I just don’t spot it.

3. Cherry Blossom

After Good Wife, lyrics like I’m your cherry blossom baby // don’t let me blow away in the chorus cannot really surprise me any more. The instrumental side of the song is not too much richer than its predecessor, some sprinkles of Japanese style harmonies. A song which has a strong 1980’s feeling to me – but there would have been several acts, who would have

4. Simple Times

Simple Times has been selected as one of the single releases. Like at the first tracks of this album, I so much enjoy Kacey Musgraves’s sweet, fragile vocal performance. This fourth track might be the most present song on the album so far – it comes with a nice melodic line. Overall, the music video brands the song much stronger than the song itself would have ever be able to manage.

5. If This Was A Movie

If This Was A Movie again comes with a very dream-ish atmosphere with a lot of echo and electronic background sounds. Like Michael Cretu songs in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. However, Cretu just recorded better songs – sorry, Kacey.

If this was a movie
Love would be enough
To save us from the darkness
That’s inside both of us
And we’d get away
And we’d be okay

6. Justified

There is this touch of country in Justified. A bit of country and a lot of pop. It is not that nuance of her original genre, which turns the sixth song to be likely the best of the whole album. The song is just having more power and substance than most of the other tracks. It is a reason to listen to Star-Crossed to more than just the first verse and the chorus of each track.

7. Angel

If I was an angel
I wouldn’t get so mad
It’d be easy to be grateful
For everything I have

Another song, which spreads some magic. Just Kacey’s amazing voice and the guitar. These 2:19 minutes are special. The song feels to be much stronger than putting her messages in thin pop melodies. Short, but good track.

8. Breadwinner

This song a rhythmic electro-pop track, which feels like a mental payoff with Kelly and his attitude towards relationships. One of the better songs, the song at least has a quite nice melody, which makes the song rather catching.

9. Camera Roll

It feels to be my key thought about this album: the more you just have Kacey and her guitar in songs, the better the songs are. I would even say that even in this very personal and honest album, you can relate better to songs like Camera Roll. They just feel better.

10. Easier Said

It ain’t easy
It ain’t easy to love someone
I’ve been tryin’ and I found out
That it’s easier said than done

Regarding the lyrics, Easier Said is one of the best songs of the album to me. The pop-ish style distract me from that. It also reduces the power of Kacey’s key asset, her amazing voice and vocal presence.

11. Hookup Scene

Another guitar and Kacey song. Maybe as country as it gets in this album. It is at least deep. These kind of songs finally prevent this album to turn into a really bad release. Very intimate, deep thoughts.

12. Keep Lookin‘ Up

Keep Lookin’ Up is a self-encouraging song. Keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground is the key phrase of the lyrics. The rhythmic elements lead to a catching element and really make you feel to move to the music for the first time on this album. Good one.

13. What Doesn’t Kill Me

After some better songs, What Doesn’t Kill Me is at the very most at average ranger. Rather below that. This song does not make you stronger, Kacey.

14. There Is A Light

There is a light
At the end of the tunnel
There is a light
Inside of me

The song feels to be some sort of “I am strong” message towards Ruston Kelly. Honestly, this song will not make him feel sad about the split. The flute parts feel as absurd to me as the whole plot of the song.

15. Gracias a la Vida

Gracias a la Vida – Thank you to life. In this last track, Kacey Musgraves is quoting a song written and composed by Chilean Violetta Parra. Somehow a nice finish, which does not fit to the remaining of the album at all. However, if you read about the story of the song, it might even be a very bad selection – her humanist hymn was part of Parra’s last album before she committed suicide. Neither Star-Crossed nor the private stories behind it are reason for similar action.

 

Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed – Spotify

Here is Star-Crossed on Spotify:

 

Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed – My View

The thing I feel most sad about in this album is that the German record company / promoter calls Star-Crossed country music – that’s definitely not the case. The album is a pop album with sprinkles of country music references. Apart from the genre assignment, it is simply not a good album – and if you look at Musgraves’ amazing talent, I would even call it a fail. I don’t know if her journey to pop music will make her more successful – but at least Star-Crossed is not at all connecting to the great music she recorded in the past. The pleasing middle part is preventing a rating which this lady simply does not deserve.

 

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