Kacey Musgraves Returns to Her Country Roots on Her Texan-Mexican-Inspired Middle of Nowhere
Kacey Musgraves is at her best in Middle of Nowhere as she leans into Texan and Mexican influences with a wink and a smile.
The singer takes us through a carefully crafted narrative of rich, melancholy music paired with cheeky lyrics and her sleek, signature sparkly country-pop production.
Middle of Nowhere is Kacey Musgraves’ highly anticipated return to her country roots after successfully blending country-pop in previous works like Golden Hour (2018). Country fans will no doubt be pleased with her latest release, however, rather than a straight-up return to the genre, she combines her older style with the glossy, sparkly production from Golden Hour and Star-Crossed (2021), grounded by more mature lyrics also found in some songs on Deeper Well. Her sound is elevated by paying tribute to traditional Mexican and Texan music, as she talks openly about in an interview with Zane Lowe. She explores Mexico’s influence on Texas – musically and more generally: “Texas was a part of Mexico and we would not be what we are as we know it without Mexican influence… I’m serious.”
The opening title track is a relaxed introduction to this new country-heavy era and foreshadows themes of loneliness, vast empty spaces (hence ‘Middle of Nowhere’) and removing oneself from the busy-ness of modern life. Isolation is interwoven throughout the album in songs like the laid-back Loneliest Girl, portraying loneliness as a content and peaceful way of living. Musgraves immediately transports the listener to the dry, vast deserts of Texas with these themes, aided by traditional country music elements. Speaking of dryness: the second track and lead single Dry Spell is a true highlight and runs with this storyline of isolation. However, it deviates from the chilled-out opener with a catchy, bluesy guitar riff and some of the boldest, wittiest lyrics in her discography as she details more complex feelings about being alone and the longing she felt during a period of prolonged celibacy (“I’m so lonely, lonely with a capital ‘H’”). Her “sitting on the washing machine” line will certainly raise some eyebrows, but it encapsulates what makes this latest release so special; the smile and a wink that she performs with in some of the catchiest songs like Dry Spell and Rhinestoned (“let’s get a little Rhinestoned”). Filled with humour and euphemisms, these tracks see Musgraves confidently commit and lean into camp and fun.
This back-and-forth from more bittersweet tracks like Back on the Wagon about a loved one struggling with addiction to lighthearted tunes like Dry Spell gives the album an impressive emotional range. It taps into the potential of what good, traditional country music can achieve; tragic storytelling contrasted with joyful music. Middle of Nowhere ultimately tells an honest story about the complex emotions that a post-divorce Musgraves experiences – again, shown through the theme of isolation. She’s content to be alone in Loneliest Girl yet avoids “heartbreak and sadness” with marijuana use in Rhinestoned (despite the song’s sparkly tone). She eventually explicitly expresses her sadness around a breakdown of a relationship as she ends with Hell on Me: a perfect, stripped down, melodic outro.
The Texan-Mexican influence gives the album a very distinct style as Musgraves evidently has a lot of fun with the production and instrumental aspects of the record. There are spaghetti-Western-sounding slide guitars (and a really strong guitar solo in I Believe in Ghosts), cowbells and even an accordion in a couple of songs like Uncertain TX and Horses and Divorces. The latter is one of three strong guest features and a stand-out track that sees the singer put a high-profile feud with Miranda Lambert to rest. The two women bond over the things they have in common (namely, liking horses and going through very public divorces) to an energetic “oom-pah” rhythm with a perfect sly nod from Lambert to Musgraves’ previous hit song (“riding in on my High Horse”).
Including these regional musical elements demonstrates a vast knowledge of the history of country music by Musgraves, but is perhaps less of a tribute to Texas itself and more of a love letter delivered with an eye-roll. In Uncertain, TX, she calls it the “great state of confusion” and the last verse is sighed in frustration: “Down here in uncertain Texas/ Nobody ever makes up their dusty, old, love-bombin’/ Snake-charmin’, bullsh*tin’/ Heartbreakin’, godforsaken, dumbass mind”. On the surface, it’s a song about an indecisive culture and flaky Texan men, but maybe speaks more to the contentious political climate in her home state. In the lead-up to the album’s release, Musgraves didn’t shy away from talking about issues like immigration. Middle of Nowhere feels inseparable from her political views as she continues to make her support for Mexican immigrants crystal clear, emphasising Mexico’s undeniable influence on Texan music and recently recruiting the Gámez-Cuéllar brothers, a teenage mariachi trio who were previously temporarily detained by ICE, to open for several of her upcoming performances.
It’s this outspokenness and confidence that sets Middle of Nowhere apart from her previous work. With honest storytelling, witty lyricism and a sophisticated sound, Kacey Musgraves delivers some of her most technically impressive and mature work whilst remaining enjoyable and easy to listen to.
