Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere Review
A return to country roots that ties together heartbreak, healing and everything in between, with Musgraves sounding more clear-eyed and self-assured than ever.
Kacey Musgraves’ recent discography very much feels like a story in four parts: there was 2018’s Golden Hour that found the singer so head over heels that her writing would be enough to make those with even the coldest of hearts feel every ounce of emotion in her words. Follow up star crossed was billed as a tragedy in three parts as Musgraves spent the duration refusing to hold back as she unpacked her divorce, whilst Deeper Well saw her turning to the world of crystals, astrology and cutting off all the things that no longer served her. It’s been quite the journey but on Middle of Nowhere, Musgraves goes right back to her roots to close out this rather chaotic chapter of her life.
Across the record, she really leans into the tropes of the country genre that little bit more, the most she has in probably ten years. There’s pedal-steel and banjo aplenty and collaborations that are enough to blow any die-hard country listener’s mind, ‘Horses and Divorces’ sees her finally put to bed the years long fallout between herself and Miranda Lambert after Lambert was given the track Musgraves was meant to launch her career with. The two spend the track’s duration discovering they’re more alike than they initially thought, including sharing a love for Willie Nelson who she enlists on the cowbell heavy ‘Uncertain, Texas’. A callout of the mess that is modern dating, if there’s anything the singer does well it’s a cleverly named diss-track.
Middle of Nowhere finds Musgraves balancing all the sides that co-exist both before a relationship ends and when you’ve been out of a relationship for a while bar the odd fling. ‘Back on the Wagon’ finds her doing that classic thing of holding out some kind of hope that things really will be different this time because you’ve made a promise to one another and ‘I Believe In Ghosts’ tackles sudden relationship death and her overfamiliarity with an Irish Goodbye. Meanwhile, on ‘Loneliest Girl’ she finds the plus side to being single in not having to pretend to like a partner’s friends or take on their childhood trauma.
The thing with Kacey is, she’ll tell things exactly how they are. ‘Dry Spell’ is a bold confession packed with innuendo, the kind you’d perhaps fess up to a few close friends after one too many drinks, rather than here for millions to tune into but that’s just how she rolls. ‘Rhinestoned’ is equally as cheeky as Musgraves reminds her muse that there’s no better cure to heartbreak than smoking a little something and letting loose.
On Middle of Nowhere, Musgraves is exactly where she needs to be as she appreciates the importance of looking back in order to move forwards.