Kacey Musgraves - 'Deeper Well'

[recordyear]

1. Cardinal
2. Deeper Well
3. Too Good to Be True
4. Moving Out
5. Giver / Taker
6. Sway
7. Dinner With Friends
8. Heart of the Woods
9. Jade Green
10. The Architect
11. Lonely Millionaire
12. Heaven Is
13. Anime Eyes
14. Nothing to Be Scared Of

"Too Good to Be True" interpolates "Breathe (2 AM)" by Anna Nalick.
"Lonely Millionaire" interpolates "Kody Blu 31" by JID.
"Heaven Is" interpolates Scottish folk song, "Ca' the yowes to the knowes."



Focus track is The Architect.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

This album feels like one big exhale I really needed after this past couple of really stressful months.

LOVE it! Not sure if I can articulate or rank favorites atm, but I have to say "Moving Out" and "Dinner with Friends" are really pulling at my heart strings! "Giver/Taker" and "The Architect" sounds like classic Kacey, and "Cardinal" e "Nothing To Be Scared Of" are perfect bookends for this beautiful record.

[Typo]

It all feels too slight and too dependent on overused self help cliches. I connected with the title track, so I was excited but I’m really only feeling “Moving Out” and “Heaven Is.” The rest of it is just not for me.

[Deleted]

How far has she fallen? Like 4 or 5 years ago she was everywhere winning Grammys, CMA’s, ACM’s …ect. Now she releases an album with ZERO buzz…..I had no idea she was even releasing anything until I saw this thread. I’m a fan of her first few albums but the album after Golden Hour did absolutely nothing for me. I hope I’ll like this one more.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

Mar 15, 2024 14:17:28 GMT -5 @jacobl18 said:

How far has she fallen? Like 4 or 5 years ago she was everywhere winning Grammys, CMA’s, ACM’s …ect. Now she releases an album with ZERO buzz…..I had no idea she was even releasing anything until I saw this thread. I’m a fan of her first few albums but the album after Golden Hour did absolutely nothing for me. I hope I’ll like this one more.

Err... she's been in the top 10 of Billboard Hot 100 for like 6 months now and she just won another Grammy weeks ago

[Deleted]

Mar 15, 2024 16:15:16 GMT -5 The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 said:

Mar 15, 2024 14:17:28 GMT -5 @jacobl18 said:

How far has she fallen? Like 4 or 5 years ago she was everywhere winning Grammys, CMA’s, ACM’s …ect. Now she releases an album with ZERO buzz…..I had no idea she was even releasing anything until I saw this thread. I’m a fan of her first few albums but the album after Golden Hour did absolutely nothing for me. I hope I’ll like this one more.

Err... she's been in the top 10 of Billboard Hot 100 for like 6 months now and she just won another Grammy weeks ago

Ehhh she’s featured on a song that has been in the top 10 the last 6 months and she won a Grammy for a song that wasn’t hers. I get your point but her last solo album did nothing and she’s had absolutely no buzz that I’ve seen surrounding this album release.

[raylatch98]

Eh she's had some buzz between the SNL Performance a couple weeks ago, "I Remember Everything" keeping her name in the mainstream even if it isn't specifically her song, and "Deeper Well" has accumulated over a million views on YouTube. It's not at the peak of Golden Hour or anything but this album has definitely had some amount of hype and buildup to it. This isn't like the latest album from like Dierks Bentley that didn't have a ton of hype or excitement before the album release.

[Deleted]

My first reaction to listening to it is it’s better than Starcrossed but still way below the quality of her first 3 albums. This whole album sounds like just one continuous song….Maybe that was the goal idk. She’s an amazing songwriter with lyrics but this new sound she’s incorporated with the auto tune and just mellow sound isn’t for me. I miss the Biscuits & Dime Store Cowgirl Kacey.

[Elusive Chanteuse]

I'd argue that this HAS buzz. 11/14 songs are already in the Top 100 Country songs being streamed on Apple Music and it hasn’t been a full day of release. I’m pretty sure it’s also doing well on Spotify, and especially Amazon since that’s a strong platform for Country fans.

Maybe not at the levels of Golden Hour, but this is definitely already outperforming star-crossed. Rightfully so, because the quality is return to form. What a stunning album.

[recordyear]

Peaked at #2 on US Apple Music chart.

First day US Spotify:
48 (re-entry) Deeper Well (628862 streams)
78 (new) Cardinal (502780 streams)
81 (new) Too Good To Be True (486297 streams)
90 (new) The Architect (468713 streams)
148 (new) Moving Out (393361 streams)
153 (new) Giver/Taker (390978 streams)
170 (new) Sway (369436 streams)
195 (new) Dinner with Friends (353227 streams)

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

Oh, nice! Numbers are almost the same as she did for star-crossed (the only difference being the charts were less crowded when she released SC so she was able to chart more songs in top 200 with lower numbers)

[zdm1998]

Mar 15, 2024 19:23:52 GMT -5 @jacobl18 said:

My first reaction to listening to it is it’s better than Starcrossed but still way below the quality of her first 3 albums. This whole album sounds like just one continuous song….Maybe that was the goal idk. She’s an amazing songwriter with lyrics but this new sound she’s incorporated with the auto tune and just mellow sound isn’t for me. I miss the Biscuits & Dime Store Cowgirl Kacey.

This is where I'm at. It's enjoyable, but it doesn't do for me what her first three album did. Better than her last album though for me.

[jab820]

I really enjoy this album. My first thought listening to it was "Oh, thank god..." as it felt like such a return to form to the "Golden Hour" era. Starting with "Cardinal" was brilliant as it's in my top 3 songs on the album, although it made me wish more songs had its tempo. This album is certainly missing its "High Horse", though it makes up for it with stunners like "The Architect" and "Giver / Taker".

I continue to be impressed that Kacey was able to stick it to country radio and then subsequently have greater success than she ever did. Those first day Spotify streaming numbers are more than some (most?) A-List country stars are getting on their recent outputs. She has filled a nice hole in the mainstream and I am truly thankful she, almost completely alone, paved the way for other country artists to thrive without radio support.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

Deeper Well is predicted to debut with 75-85k SPS per HDD — potentially Kacey’s largest first-week opening and challenging Ariana for #1 on the BB 200 

[.indulgecountry]

This album is a step up from star-crossed which just overall wasn't for me, but I do echo some of the above sentiments from others that Deeper Well still doesn't come close to the first 3 albums for me, either. She delivered a nice cohesive chill vibes record here with DW and it's definitely an enjoyable enough front-to-back listen, but I do agree that the album feels a bit too samey and I do wish there was a little more variety in tempos and sounds here. There's still some solid stuff here though and I'll be able to pick favorites better with more listens (only done three run-throughs thus far), but the title cut, "Cardinal," "The Architect," and "Nothing to Be Scared Of" stand out so far the most.

I'm glad she's continuing to find success w/o the necessity of country radio, but I need more Kacey cuts like "Merry Go Round," "Dime Store Cowgirl," "Happy & Sad," etc.

[recordyear]

Second day US Spotify:
66 (-18) Deeper Well (503,785 streams)
175 (-94) Too Good To Be True (343,989 streams)
190 (-112) Cardinal (338,046 streams)

[recordyear]

A bonus track, Ruthless, is available when downloading a version of the digital album from her shop.

[jab820]

Kacey Musgraves rivaling Ariana Grande for #1 on BB 200 (in Ariana's second week, to be fair) goes to show her star power. Country radio who?

Maren Morris, take notes and give us something great!!

[raylatch98]

I do think it's important to note that Kacey Musgraves is more of the exception than the rule when it comes to artists having such mainstream success without country radio.

For every Kacey Musgraves there's plenty of artists who just don't connect, don't get signed to a major label, lack promo, etc. Heck even with artists like Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris their initial popularity did come from country radio especially the latter.

Country radio is nowhere near the juggernaut it was back in the day, but it still holds a fair amount of relevancy despite artists like Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves, saying otherwise.

[recordyear]

Mar 17, 2024 18:18:49 GMT -5 jab820 said:

Kacey Musgraves rivaling Ariana Grande for #1 on BB 200 (in Ariana's second week, to be fair) goes to show her star power. Country radio who?

Maren Morris, take notes and give us something great!!

Kacey Musgraves is the one major label country female artist that critics push hard in the last decade and has won all-genre Album of the Year in the Grammys.

The other one has a crossover song that has a Target ad music video, and generally not that popular as an artist.

[kluen]

Mar 15, 2024 19:23:52 GMT -5 @jacobl18 said:

My first reaction to listening to it is it’s better than Starcrossed but still way below the quality of her first 3 albums. This whole album sounds like just one continuous song….Maybe that was the goal idk. She’s an amazing songwriter with lyrics but this new sound she’s incorporated with the auto tune and just mellow sound isn’t for me. I miss the Biscuits & Dime Store Cowgirl Kacey.

Yeah,can sombody take the folk out of her and put it back country again?

[jab820]

Mar 17, 2024 19:00:15 GMT -5 recordyear said:

Mar 17, 2024 18:18:49 GMT -5 jab820 said:

Kacey Musgraves rivaling Ariana Grande for #1 on BB 200 (in Ariana's second week, to be fair) goes to show her star power. Country radio who?

Maren Morris, take notes and give us something great!!

Kacey Musgraves is the one major label country female artist that critics push hard in the last decade and has won all-genre Album of the Year in the Grammys.

The other one has a crossover song that has a Target ad music video, and generally not that popular as an artist.

We can't claim that Kacey was already a mega popular artist heading into her first radio-agnostic era (Golden Hour). She was a fairly popular and critically successful artist with a couple of Grammys and oodles of nominations. The success and critical acclaim of Golden Hour itself is what launched her into this new stratosphere, and without it it's hard to imagine any of her albums competing with Ariana Grande for #1. My comparison here is that Maren, who is preparing for her first radio-agnostic era, is already fairly popular and critically successful with a Grammy and oodles of nominations, could be poised for a similar trajectory if she plays her cards right and gives us an undeniable album. In fact, there is an argument to be made that Maren is (or maybe was ~1 yr ago) more poised to exist successfully sans country support than Kacey ever was, considering her crossover success of two huge songs. None of it is guaranteed but I imagine Maren has looked to Kacey's path as more of a blueprint than, say, Taylor Swift.

[zdm1998]

I don’t see Maren being able to carve out a lane like Kacey did tbh. We already had an appetizer with “The Tree” ep a few months ago, and despite being stunning, made little noise on the streaming front.

And if we really want to get technical “Humble Quest” felt like a pretty radio agnostic era, because none of those songs, aside the lead, felt radio friendly, and we all saw how that one went.

[zack97]

I hate saying I put off listening to this due to 'star-crossed,' given that I, too, love her first three albums, but ... it's strange. This is really good and a nice return to form that may (hopefully) pave the way for something stronger, but with the context of those earlier albums in mind, this just can't help but lack that same creative spark and fervor. And it's so hard to pinpoint exactly why, beyond the samey tempos, as others have noted. I did really like "The Architect" and "Cardinal," and both "Jade Green" and "Lonely Millionaire" had really interesting grooves. It's good; really good. I just wish I could love this.

[onebuffalo]

#1 country, #2 top 200 album with 97,000 SPS. Congratulations Kacey Musgraves.

[recordyear]

^66k pure sales (37k vinyl, 11k CD, negligible cassette, 18k digital), 30k SEA and 1k TEA.

The first-week vinyl number is the highest in 2024 so far and fourth largest for a country album (top three are Taylor Swift re-recordings).

Also #26 in Australia and #3 in UK.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

So happy for Kacey! She really deserves this... not in my wildest dreams I would've imagined her so close to 100k. It would've been an easy #01 for her a couple of weeks ago, but anyway... there's no way to get mad having numbers like this

[recordyear]

Charted 4 songs on Hot Country Songs this week:

#17 (+20) Deeper Well (#76 on Hot 100)
#29 (RE) Too Good To Be True (#2 on Bubbling Under Hot 100)
#33 (new) Cardinal (#12 on Bubbling Under Hot 100)
#38 (new) The Architect (#22 on Bubbling Under Hot 100)