Kacey Musgraves Star-Crossed released

Star-Crossed Kacey Musgraves

Released: September 10, 2021 Peak: 3 US, 11 CW, 10 UK, 9 CN, 9 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Star-Crossed [3:19] (8/23/21, 37 CW) Good Wife [3:51] (41 CW) Cherry Blossom [3:04] (44 CW) Simple Times [2:47] (9/9/21, 31 CW) If This Was a Movie [3:15] Justified (Musgraves, Fitchuk, Ilsey Juber, BJ Burton) [3:01] (8/27/21, 26 A40, 10 AA, 22 CW) Angel [2:20] Breadwinner (Musgraves, Fitchuk, Juber, Burton) [3:21] (36 CW) Camera Roll [2:39] Easier Said [3:07] Hookup Scene [3:21] Keep Lookin’ Up [2:46] What Doesn’t Kill Me (Musgraves, Andrew Neely, Dante Jone, Dewain Whitmore Jr.) [2:17] There Is a Light [3:52] Gracias a la Vida (Violetta Parra) [4:32] All songs written by Musgraves with Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 47:32

Rating: 3.625 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings)

About the Album: Kacey Musgraves won Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Golden Hour, “a pop breakthrough inspired by the glow of a happy relationship” PF after her marriage to Ruston Kelly in October 2017. She returns three years later with Star-Crossed, an album about their divorce. She said, “I wasn’t going to be a real country artist without at least one divorce under my belt.” PF All joking aside, this is “a breakup record, sure – but not one driven by bitterness. It’s nearly, or completely, and remarkably anger-free.” NPR “If being in love made Musgraves feel connected to the world, these songs find her burrowing inward, questioning everything.” PF She said, “This album is full of love and gratitude for that person, for Ruston, for my life and my ability to explore all the emotions as a songwriter.” NRP ”Writing in the plain language of someone desperate to be understood, she sounds alternately vulnerable and triumphant.” PF Easier Said is “a songwriter witnessing the anticlimactic end to the relationship that inspired her most popular material.” PF She doesn’t just delve into the aftermath, however. She shows the marriage’s flaws from the onset. On Good Wife, she addresses “the humble beginnings of a marriage, but its lyrics suggest that, even back then, she felt forced into a role she wasn’t particularly suited for, bracing herself for failure.” PF On Breadwinner, she “tells the story about a male partner intimidated by a woman’s success, who latches on, vampire-like, nonetheless.” NY She recounts her divorce in the psychedelic country song Star-Crossed, which she described as a “Latin-inflected ballad about resigning from a relationship and accepting fate without bitterness.” WK “Healing doesn’t happen in a straight line,” she sings on the lead single, Justified. “The curiously sweet Hookup Scene captures the regret of finding yourself cast out to sea after a relationship ends. The patiently sad Cameral Roll details the modern conundrum of whether to scroll back through old photos.” NY Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, who co-produced Golden Hour with Musgraves are back again. The album was recorded in Nashville in early 2021. She said Daft Punk, the Eagles, Sade, Weezer, and Bill Withers were influences for the album. WK She even tackles a Spanish song, Gracias a La Vida (although translated into English), originally by Chilean protest singer Violeta Parra.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Kacey Musgraves NPR National Public Radio NY New York Times PF Pitchfork WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/19/2021.