Day 245: Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere
George Harrison has been my loadbearing musician for propping up my mental health when it’s feeling a bit fragile, but recently he’s had some help. I listened to Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour on Day 146 and gave it a very rare 10 and I’ve been putting on some Kacey Musgraves when I’ve been stressed. That album is high on my list of the best things I’ve discovered in the course of this project. Today, I thought I’d go for her new album, Middle of Nowhere.
Album cover courtesy of Lost Highway Records
The album got its title from a sign that she saw when she was in her hometown of Golden, Texas that said “Golden Texas: Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere.” She was going through a long period of being single, and the album came out of her experience of solitude:
I found that for the first time, it actually felt incredible being alone and existing in a space not defined by anyone else. I became fascinated with the concept of liminal space, both geographical and emotional. We don’t linger in these transitional, empty spaces long enough and rush to define where or whatever is next. I became so at ease with being in the ‘middle of nowhere’ in many senses and sitting in the un-comfort of the undefined.
It’s also a return to her roots as it’s a more traditional country album, as opposed to the more genre-blending albums that she has been releasing recently.
I think what makes Kacey Musgraves so interesting as an artist is how she can blend being traditional with breaking ground: she’s a country artist who writes songs about psychedelic drugs and gay rights. She’s mixed the traditional elements of country with yacht rock and disco, and she’s spoken out for human rights and recently added a mariachi band detained by ICE as openers on her tour. With Middle of Nowhere, Kacey Musgraves is showing that she’s still just as interesting when she’s leaning more towards the traditional.
The second part that I really love about her is her writing. She’s incredibly funny and clever but she’s just as able to write more seriously about her life or more philosophical topics. But it’s a rarer form of female country singer that’s able to have an album with more serious musings about solitude and life with bangers like “I'm so lonely / Lonely with a capital "H" / If you know what I mean / I've been sitting on the washing machine.”
I’m very happy to report that my stress buster habit of listening to Kacey Musgraves will continue with Middle of Nowhere. From the song with Willie Nelson to her feud-busting duet with Miranda Lambert to all of the songs with her on her own, every single song on this album is just a joy to listen to. I especially like “Loneliest Girl” and “Middle of Nowhere”, both of which are maybe most in step with the theme of the album of being on your own in that liminal space, all the while being happy to be there.
If you would have told me before starting this that one of my favourite artist discoveries throughout this project will be a country singer, I might have been a bit sceptical – nothing against it, but I just never thought country music was my thing. This is probably the most country album I’ve ever really liked, but I do like it very much. I’m not as into Middle of Nowhere as Golden Hour or Deeper Well but I’m still a big fan of it, and that could change when I listen to it again. It’s a very respectable 9/10.