star-crossed - Kacey Musgraves: Review
Kacey Musgraves
is a Texas based singer and songwriter who has spent the last few years shifting from a country artist on her first few records to a full blown pop star today. star-crossed is the follow-up to 2018's Golden Hour Kasey's most commercially and critically successful album to date.
Review By Lav:
While I've always been aware of Kacey Musgraves' music I was never really crazy about her sound until she really impressed me on Golden Hour. It was the first time that she consistently executed both good songwriting and good sounding songs, and the fact that it became her breakout record is no surprise. For those reasons star-crossed was a follow-up album I was pretty interested in and I'm not surprised at all that Kacey dove head first into the world of pop. The thing I was surprised about was how difficult of a record it would turn out to be. From the awkward songwriting and topical approach, to the straight up unfinished mixing and production this album never stands a chance.
It actually got off to a half decent start with the lead single, title track and opener star-crossed. It highlights Kasey's ability to captivate with stool and guitar type songwriting. While it isn't necessarily that compelling of a song on it's own it basically sets up the entire album thematically so I appreciate it being placed where it is. The record goes through quite a long run before there's another decent track and it finally arrives in the form of if this was a movie. It has a narrative string that's easy to follow and a pretty nice hook that goes very distant in its presentation with good results. The song is still extremely low impact but it still sounds fine.
angel is another good stool and guitar ballad that sees Kacey re-imagining herself as an angel but more in the southern lexicon "bless your heart angel" kind of way. I really appreciate the underlying narrative of not wanting someone else to have to make sacrifices for you but realizing that ultimately some will need to be made and the song doesn't overstay its welcome. easier said weaves a similar narrative where Kacey has to realize, seemingly in real time, that loving someone is hard. The succinctness of the phrase "easier said then done" really sells the songs core dilemma.
what doesn't kill me is a bit of a diamond in the rough on the back side of the record aside from a slightly underwhelming hook. It has a throwback sounding instrumental that fuses some of the acoustics of Kacey's career thus far with electronic instrumentation that is surprisingly tasteful in its execution. hookup scene is the last half-decent song despite being a track called hookup scene that is about commitment. Expectations aside the stripped back song gives Kacey room to breathe and do her thing.
The next big theme of the record is tracks that are so painfully uninspired and forgettable I can't even think of much to say about them. simple times sounds like a Red era Taylor Swift B-side which is actually a compliment since her B-sides tend to be better than her actual album tracks. camera roll is an extremely forgettable acoustic ballad about scrolling through your pictures on your phone. Finally there' there is a light which I have pretty much nothing specific to even comment on except that it helps transition into the next part of the review which is songs that are unbearably awkward.
The race for worst song on the record is a pretty hotly contested one but I'd like to introduce breadwinner to the ring. It certainly has the records most awkward chorus which introduces the whitest groove I've ever heard on any song. Kacey's refrains are funnier than any comedy album I've ever heard but I don't think that's what she intended. I have no idea how a song like this made it onto an album this big. justified was released as a single and I just have no idea who it's for. It sounds like an adult contemporary or easy listening or adult contemporary song from the 2000's that you'd see on an old VHS recording from some daytime talk show hosted by a person you've never heard of. It's so nondescript sonically and so straight to the point lyrically that there is nothing to think about or even take away from the song.
good wife is an extremely awkward combination of old and new with one of the records tackiest instrumentals. The slow developing refrains have some painfully awkward moments and the lyrical theme is really all the track has to stand on. The most ill-conceived song on the album is definitely cherry blossom which sees Kacey slyly delivering painfully awkward and generic love song lyricism that has been Japan-ized. The whole thing is both sonically and thematically annoying and I have no idea how it made it onto an album this big.
keep looking up features a problem that the entire record suffers from which is bad mixing and production. Her vocals literally start to fuzz out when she sings her high notes and it sounds like it was mixed by someone who is deaf to the upper register. The clicking behind the guitars seems like it's meant to be actual instrumentation in the song but it's so bland it sounds like they had a metronome ticking away that is just left in. Also I know I said that breadwinner might be the worst song here but the album saves its worst disaster for last with gracias a la vida. It's a combination of all the records greatest misses, a poorly thought out concept, nondescript but somehow also bad sounding instrumentation and finally rough mixing that makes the record sound way worse than it should.
I really don't know what to say about star-crossed. I was excited about this album and Kacey finally getting the recognition she deserves but this is easily the worst thing she's ever put out. The complete lack of any instrumental ambition is one thing but when you add on top of it that almost all the songs here that do have any instrumentation of note are badly mixed makes for such a head scratching combination. There are certainly some highlights here though for a record themed around Kacey's real-life divorce it is unbelievably tame. I'm just not sure what to take away from this record. I have no doubt that Kacey is talented enough to potentially return to the level of Golden Hour at some point in the future but this is like it's ill-conceived unfinished little sister. Or to put it in Kacey's terms she's trying to land in the same park, but star-crossed is a far inferior trailer. 4/10
