Kacey Musgraves - 2013 Anticipation

I never thought I'd be posting new thread in a ILM country anticipation thread. I was listening to an NPR podcast, where Ann Powers was discussing this single released by country singer Kacey Musgraves, called "Merry Go 'Round".

Maybe the album will turn out shit but this single will rank in my top 20 for 2013 for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJjeWDvh6J0

it actually did pretty well in the Pazz & Jop 2012 singles. i was the first person to post it on ILM! but yeah, looking forward to the album! she was great on Fallon a couple weeks back.

Merry Go Round is great, looking forward to this

hearing this song on the radio has been nice

ann and another person were raving about the album proper on twitter; so stoked

i remember the first time i heard "Merry Go Round," the local country station was doing a 'hey it's 10pm let's throw a new song out there and see what they think' thing and i was like damn well this is different

Album is really, really good. I've got a long Spin review of that and Ashley Monroe's album (which I might like even more) running this week -- My two favorite albums of 2013 so far. (At least I think it's running this week -- deadline was last Thursday, and I already got the edit back.)

Took a while, but Spin got my review up:

http://www.spin.com/reviews/ashley-monroe-like-a-rose-kacey-musgraves-same-trailer-different-park?utm_source=spintwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spintwitter

this record is awesome; great review chuck

follow yr arrow is...unexpected? even for 2013 country. in a good way.

Sounds like a big crossover pop hit waiting to happen, in a good way.

I wasn't crazy about "Merry Go Round" but I'm looking forward to it.

this album is pretty damn great huh

also did you all know she co-wrote "mama's broken heart", the best song on miranda lambert's last album

first impression: her VOICE. it's interesting cuz she's so detached - not in the blank sense, she's fully emotionally involved in her situations, but almost dispassionate, almost snotty. it's not a vocal stance i've heard much in country, it almost reminds me of...aimee mann or someone? it really works.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/magazine/kacey-musgravess-rebel-twang.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&ref=music

Good album. "Blowin' Smoke" is a good safe choice for a second single; it'll sound good coming out of truck radios. But what's stopping her people from shipping a few promos of "Follow Your Arrow" to some non-country formats, I wonder. Maybe chucking a cheap lyric video on Youtube while they're at it.

caramanica:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/arts/music/new-albums-by-ashley-monroe-and-kacey-musgraves.html

"follow your arrow" being a single would be so great!

i've only listened to the album twice since it came out yesterday but i love it already

omg 'stupid'

i played this record over and over today. and sang!

this album is fucking great

xgau reviewed it: http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/expert-witness-blogpost.aspx?post=fe6e27de-1614-48a4-b055-40db617c61e8

that standard of writing is basically "listened once, initial thoughts that i dumped on ilx"

His country writing is fraught. His last couple: Ashley Monroe: "how rare it is for a major-label Nashville hopeful to put this much care into every song" (nonsense). Pickler: "American Idol haunts this artistic breakthrough, a sense that she'll always sing what she's told no matter how many composition credits she bags" (so what?). The reviews argue that the songs and their performances are triumphs anyway; I question the assumptions that their Nashville and AI backgrounds would make us wary.

this fucking album

"keep it to yourself" is so empathetic (like, she ends up in an unfulfilling booty call two songs later) that it's just ice cold

instagrammy video for "merry go round" is interesting too, b/c that's def a route through which i can see her crossing over

"blowin' smoke" is so well constructed, like the first verse is such a red herring - you think it's going to be about kelly who escapes the small town but no it's about the waitresses who sneered at her but got stuck there forever (but pretty non-judgmental too)

"stupid" is just awesome. STUPID LOVE IS STUPID DON'T KNOW WHY WE ALWAYS DO IT. she's so over everything and i love it

"Step Off" is a perfect little throwaway, quieter than Taylor Swift's "Mean."

apparently "i miss you" lifts the tune from some radiohead song? w/vs she certainly improved it

"Step Off" is a perfect little throwaway, quieter than Taylor Swift's "Mean."

kacey's over-everything attitude comes into its own there, like you really believe that it doesn't affect her even though she's troubled herself to write a whole song about it (whereas taylor - deliberately - gives the game away in the middle eight)

also helps "follow your arrow", like the line about kissing girls isn't there to Make A Point (well it is, but her delivery ensures it's not signposted heavy-handedly), it's there because duhhh

this is my 2nd fav album of the year, anyway

I was driving around DC listening to the local country station when I heard "Blowin' Smoke" for the first time. I had no idea who it was by, but made a note to find out. The next day or so I randomly came across two reviews of Musgraves, so I made a note to buy the album when I got home. Then when I played the album and heard "Blowin' Smoke" I though, huh, that's really how this is supposed to work, right? Hear a song on the radio, read a couple of reviews, get rewarded with a great record.

Playing in London next Monday. Tempted to go. The album is very good.

apparently "i miss you" lifts the tune from some radiohead song? w/vs she certainly improved it

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Man, I don't give much of a shit about Radiohead, but "apparently"?

well i can only remember how about two radiohead songs actually go!

def gonna try to reach on mon

Sounds as much like Radiohead as Radiohead sounds like The Hollies.

Creep sounds a lot like that Hollies song. I noticed it the first time I heard it.

closest radiohead analogue i could think of was "nude" which is ridiculous

seeing her monday :D

but it's a waste of breath and it's a waste of time i know

tremendous album. "Follow Your Arrow" is my least favorite song, though, when it opens it sounds like she's deliberately trying to rewrite "Merry Go Round."

I'm going on Monday too. Excited!

I love the person/first one rhyme.

loving this. 'merry go round' is a little to clever for its own good imo. blowing smoke & i miss you are incredible

<3

Been enjoying this album. In Merry Go 'Round, I first heard the "Mary two doors down" line as "Mary Tudor's down" and thought she might really be reaching with a 16th century reference in there.

this album is great! the opener, "Silver Lining", is killing me: the chorus' melody is the catchiest thing I've heard all year. I love the sound of her voice.

is there any feeling that the album's going to be a hit? it seems pretty low key for that. like it reminds me as a really well crafted take on the alt.country tunes I jammed in the 90s; & we know how that was received by Nashville.

huh, wiki says that "Merry Go Round" has sold 524,000 copies already. if so, whoa! yeah, that's a hit

it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 (behind the Timberlake juggernaut) xp

shit, yeah, just saw that too, #1 country too. that's great!

love the plunk-plunk sound of the guitar on "Dandelion"

yes tracks like "cup of tea" came across as self-parodic and tbh this new one also demonstrates what a fine/fragile line this style of jokey songwriting straddles

You didn't like Golden Hour?!

― corrs unplugged, Thursday, March 12, 2026

No!

i would just like to say when i heard the amount of time she bemoans in her "dry spell" i wanted to scream, what is this the AA league of yearning???

I'm a major Same Trailer Different Park fan and would for years insist that it was superior to Golden Hour, but in the end I had to accept that Golden Hour is the one I come back to most (I listen to it... once a week?)

STDP is front loaded to a fault imo

Though of course "Follow Your Arrow" is second to last.

Unless you don't like that one ...

"keep it to yourself" the best song on the album is 4th to last. "merry go round" aside i don't see any of the first several tracks as being significantly better or worse than the rest

"Merry Go Round," her first single, is still her best. A song that sounded like nothing else in the genre at the time, a perfect encapsulation of her writing talents, and a winning melody.

NPR just unearthed her Tiny Desk concert from when Pageant Material came out--nice to see this, especially as someone who thinks "Dry Spell" is good-not-great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8aJXgIq2QM

Just raw talent and charisma, before the fillers and the influencer vibe. I have hopes she will get back to basics, and if the new stuff isn't quite it, at least it's looser and cheekier.

great stuff!

xps "Follow Your Arrow" is classic, obv! I just find the second half of STDP a bit... dirgey? maybe it's just "I Miss You" and "Back on the Map" that kind of kills the vibe for me

some days I think “Dandelion” is her best

now we're talking!

before the fillers and the influencer vibe

goodness me

A couple of years ago we were in Iceland. On the last day of our trip we went to the Blue Lagoon (which is what a lot of people do on their last day). The weather was absolutely shit, and it doesn't matter if the water is hot if your shoulders, head and face are being punished by high winds and pelted by freezing rain. Turns out Kacey was there at the exact same time and place (we wouldn't have recognized her in this situation), no doubt hoping to get some exotic Instagram content, but to her credit she posted her actual experience:

https://www.instagram.com/reels/Cyl3ggXJQEg/

xp fair, but she had seemed above that and I was dismayed when it coincided with very bland music

Only one listen to the new one so far. At first blush I like it much more than the last two albums, although I felt like it fell off a bit in the last 3-4 songs.

As someone who got into her with Golden Hour and then subsequently fell in love with the earlier albums, this feels like a big return to form.

idk this sounds like another amiable stone bore

Yeah, think I will be choosin' Ella Langley instead.

some days I think “Dandelion” is her best

― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, March 16, 2026 6:58 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

This song is very personal for me because I used to sing it to my son, and he would do his best to sing along, while pushing him in the swing in our backyard when he was around 3 years old

some days I think “Dandelion” is her best

― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, March 16, 2026 6:58 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

This song is very personal for me because I used to sing it to my son, and he would do his best to sing along, while pushing him in the swing in our backyard when he was around 3 years old

Aw

Is “keep it to yourself” the first post-“I need you now” country song playing with the late night drunken text to your ex trope that everyone seems to use now

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/apr/28/kacey-musgraves-mariachi-texas-opener-ice

“back on the wagon” is a hell of a song, love the way that one is rendered. the narrator’s blinded optimism and hope against hope is not only allowed to shine thru but almost feels as if it’s being cradled and protected by a gentle upbeat arrangement, yet the song is clearly stained with sadness, slide guitars mournfully sighing in the background as if to say “oh, girl…” i love the way the chorus unfurls — “because we have big plans / and no one understands him / like me” … the way she sings “like me” is such a nice melodic moment, you get the full emotional weight of the song just in the way she sings those two words. it’s a very simple but emotionally complex song, love that combination and it feels like something she had deviated from as of late

“rhinestoned” is also pretty perfect, it almost feels as if she’s been sitting on a song this good about smoking weed for years? this kinda upbeat toe tapper lush country arrangement ever so sliiiightly hinting at the dance floor is so much more fun to hear than like overt disco flourishes — in my head i’ve actually already shipped this song to be the origin story of the blissfully tardy couple from “late to the party”

i have to digest the rest of the album further, some of the songs felt like they didn’t quite work for me, but would agree that this album feels to be splitting the difference between Pageant Material (old school country instrumentation) and Golden Hour (glimmering soft rock) and i think that’s a really good place for her to be in

x-post- One of my nieces in Texas tried to get tickets to one of those shows with the mariachi band opener who had previously been detained by ICE, and she said the gigs sold out quick that are scheduled for a kinda small hall. Cool that she's doing that still.

Haven't really dug into the new album yet, but will.

musically "i believe in ghosts" is perfect jennifer paige "crush"-core and the lyrics are GREAT. really loving this record so far

The solo in "I Believe in Ghosts" is wonderful. It and "Back on the Wagon" are the best songs. Otherwise, as usual, I'm not feeling this album at all. Every time I reach for her I end up with a fistful of air.

We're not simpatico, I guess.

i think the block of collabs in the middle is a pretty big dip but it recovers at the end

i haven't been thrilled by anything but Golden Hour, which i regard as exceptional. however i kinda regard it as a balearic album more than a country album, so for me it works well in that context. i'm actually vv interested in the new one based on her Coachella appearance, and gotta finally spin Deeper Well.

i think the block of collabs in the middle is a pretty big dip but it recovers at the end

― ivy., Monday, May 4, 2026 11:09 AM (fifty-six minutes ago)

yeah, agreed -- the miranda collab puts a big onus on the existence of their alleged feud to make it work. i do like the willie one but it feels a bit perfunctory. "rhinestoned" and "mexico honey" really perk the album back up again

and gotta finally spin Deeper Well.

― omar little, Monday, May 4, 2026 12:02 PM (eleven minutes ago)

no you don't

I like the album overall, I agree it starts and ends stronger than it middles. It's laid back as she tends to be, but a lot of nice tunes. I do think Golden Hour is just a peak she's unlikely to recapture, but this one shows the return of craft that seemed greatly diminished on Deeper Well.

I like the album overall, I agree it starts and ends stronger than it middles. It's laid back as she tends to be, but a lot of nice tunes. I do think Golden Hour is just a peak she's unlikely to recapture, but this one shows the return of craft that seemed greatly diminished on Deeper Well.

Oops?

Gotta say "Abilene" was an early favourite for me, but I might be alone there?

I like "Abilene"

i like “abilene” too, it feels a little genre exercise-y to me in comparison to some of the imo better songs, but it def feels like the demarcation point before the album gets a little flabby in the middle

good album, agree with most of the points here about its strengths and weaknesses. “i believe in ghosts” and “abilene” are my faves.

will say that i am a little baffled by “middle of nowhere.” feels like it’s gonna launch into a massive chorus to befit the verse, but then it does a time change that just completely stops the song in its tracks? and later on, just after the bridge begins to rescue the 3/4 time idea a bit, the song just ends. seems too crafty by half.

you might say it lands

in the middle of nowhere

duet with miranda is fun but also does not sound like they were in the room together for a solitary second of its recording process lol

Finally listened to the new one. It was ... fine. It started out sounding like a return to form(ative), or, more critically, pro forma (looking at the titles, I seem to recall "I Believe in Ghosts" being a standout?), but then I lost a bit of interest around the duets and can't remember how the album ends. My problem is that imo she just doesn't sell heartbreak (or ache) that convincingly, which may be why I've always preferred the clever/funny/witty/sly stuff.

i haven't been thrilled by anything but Golden Hour, which i regard as exceptional. however i kinda regard it as a balearic album more than a country album

can't get this out of my head, very true

xp this is a good observation. "Fine" is probably the best example. Maybe "Merry Go Round" (which I still think is her best song). But with both it's more about the production than anything she's doing.

Curious if anyone else is strongly averse to the tempo change in "Middle of Nowhere"? The verse seems so much stronger than the chorus, and the deliberate choice to slow down the chorus of the first song on the album has a "false start" quality that I can't wait to escape. Maybe wouldn't have been as jarring deeper in the album.

i think the block of collabs in the middle is a pretty big dip but it recovers at the end

― ivy., Monday, May 4, 2026 10:09 AM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

I must say when I looked at the tracklist I did not expect the Lambert collab to be by far the weakest of these but alas...

xp yes it sounds like “we didn’t know what to do with this, so …”

On the plus side, her Lee jeans Walmart clothing and accessory collaboration has some pretty cute stuff.

https://www.walmart.com/cp/kacey-lee/2930264

xp find the tempo/time change in title track to be one of few sonically interesting ideas on the album, enjoy it

like the album fine overall