| ⭐⭐⭐ |
Oft content to appeal to radio sensibilities, applying the sort of thin plasticity and quantisation that is just perfect to draw in the lowest common denominator, Kacey Musgraves has been a sort of leading voice in the contemporary country pop space for a decent while. What gets people going about her has certainly mystified me in the past. She doesn’t have a particularly recognisable voice or distinctive style, and her taste in production choices has always left plenty to be desired. It’s always been cautious curiosity when throwing on one of her albums, and consistently I have been let down on multiple fronts. I write this preface in order to contextualise just how momentous it is that Kacey has released an album as solid as ‘Middle of Nowhere’. The noticeably more stripped-back sound, paired with far more thoughtful songwriting, has scored Musgraves a release that functions as a mostly decent entry into the country pop back-catalogue.
Sporting names like Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert, ‘Middle of Nowhere’ shows a much clearer picture of Musgraves’ songwriting abilities. There is a laser focus on the more rustic qualities of country music. Jangly chords and weepy slide guitar, plus numerous syrupy acoustic arpeggios topped off with endearing vocal melodies from Kacey are about what you can expect here. There’s the gentle pulse and richly sentimental finger picking on “Abilene”, a small-town mystery of a woman running away told from the perspective of the residents, there’s nothing but quiet introspection to be had on the lyrical front. The kinship on display throughout “Horses and Divorces” is supported by a lumbering waltz and some playfully nimble accordion, a deft musical touch. I can already visualise Musgraves and Lambert arm-in-arm on a spotlit dancefloor. On the contrary, the very lonesome reflections on a failed relationship on the closer ‘Hell On Me’ are supported by perhaps the most sparse playing on the record. Kacey sounds neither here nor there, resigned to a bed of indifference, knowing that both of them are going to be stuck with their respective versions of events.
This level of decisive songcraft doesn’t necessarily appear all the time on the project, but for what it’s worth, the majority of what sits in front of us here is at the very least worthwhile. Musgraves does occasionally revert into the slightly more tedious aspects of her previous work, though when she does, it certainly isn’t killed and buried by any woeful production or engineering choices. In that sense, ‘Middle of Nowhere’ pulls through as an adequate entry into her discography, and is easily the best and most competent record we’ve heard from her in a while. It’s a great trajectory to sit on, especially when you’re working within the framework of modern country music, to be able to stick to the absolute basics and do them tastefully. It’s happened now, so there should really be no excuse to do it again come the next rollout. I know positively that I can at least approach Kacey Musgraves’ music without the trepidation of before. Instead, I will be curiously open to what she cooks up in the future.
Dan Will Review 