NEW ALBUM: KACEY MUSGRAVES | STAR-CROSSED

Kacey Musgraves releases her new album "star-crossed," which is the follow-up to 2018’s Grammy-winning album of the year, “Golden Hour.” Her most ambitious project to date, "star-crossed," marks Musgraves' first album on a joint venture with longtime label UMG Nashville and Interscope Records; she returned to Nashville-based "Golden Hour" producers Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk to produce the album. Musgraves delivers the story in roughly three acts of tightly woven pop/country songs: the optimism of falling in love, the sadness of drifting apart and everything that comes from the realization there is no going back. Musgraves expresses seeking and holding onto love, loss, anger and hope for a better future. She credits a guided psychedelic trip with helping her organize and execute the record. “star-crossed” is a brave and brutally honest take on her marriage to singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly that now joins the long list of records detailing breakups. It’s a story of courage and honesty and a stark contrast to the warm glow of “Golden Hour,” with Musgraves showing a vulnerability and willingness to grow artistically that is often in short supply among artists at her level of popularity. Musgraves’ storytelling skills and musical instincts are as strong as ever on "star-crossed." While it’s not perfect, love rarely is, and breakups never are. Musgraves told her fairytale, and now she’s owed the spotlight to tell her great tragedy.