About

Coming out in 2024, Deeper Well is an album that dives into a world of love, self-discovery, growth, and resilience. The complexity of relationships and the journey of understanding oneself are two major themes of the album. Kacey Musgraves adds a blend of country and pop elements on this album, something that has also been shown in her earlier music.

Track 1: Cardinal

“Cardinal” is a opener about Musgraves losing a someone, but then seeing a cardinal. She wonders if it could represent the person she lost giving her a sign from Heaven. Cardinals are known to be a representation of a dead person from Heaven.

I enjoyed this song. It was slightly repetitive but it never got annoying. She used a mix of sweet vocals and smooth instrumentals. This song has meaningful lyrics but they aren’t being belted in your face, it’s something that you can either sit and soak in or just play as ambience music.

Track 2: Deeper Well

This song opens with “My Saturn has returned/When I turned twenty-seven everything started to change.” The phrase “Saturn returning” is said to be a period of really figuring out who are and what your legacy will be on earth. The lyrics of this song explain that she’s choosing herself first and that, by doing this, she’s found a “deeper well.” This could mean that she’s found a deeper source of happiness, joy or meaning.

This was my favorite song on the entire album. Getting rid of the people and habits that are bad for you is a very hard thing, and Musgraves explains the process of it beautifully in this song. This is another easy listen song.

Track 3: Too Good to be True

This song begins with a scene of blissful intimacy: “Made some breakfast, made some love/this is what dreams are made of,” which is a scene so perfect that Musgraves wonders if it’s too good to be true.

The acoustics are beautiful in this song and her voice flows beautifully. The lyrics are not very complex and it’s a pretty simple song, but I still really enjoyed it.

Track 4: Moving Out

This song describes Musgraves and her partner remembering all the good and scary moments in a home right as they’re leaving it. It encapsulates the feeling of the end of a relationship. She is excited for the future, but she is sad leaving all the good memories behind her.

I really loved this song. It was definitely one of my favorites on the album. The feeling of this song was very bittersweet and nostalgic.

Track 5: Giver/Taker

In “Giver/Taker,” Musgraves sings about pledging to give everything to her partner and not asking for anything back. But then she later alludes to the fact that she really does want and need things from her partner, but she’s just too nervous to push them away by wanting more. 

I loved how simple this song was. The way it sounded reminded me of the feeling of a Sunday morning. The lyrics were so beautiful.

Track 6: Sway

The song, “Sway,” includes acoustic strumming and a toe-tapping beat. It tells a story of resilience and sticking to the course of life that fate is providing, despite how hard it might be to go with the flow.

This song was one of the weaker tracks on the album. It was an easy listen though, and something that I would definitely turn on while doing homework as background music.

Track 7: Dinner with Friends

Kacey Musgraves spends “Dinner With Friends” reeling off all the things that mean the most to her, and she opens with the titular line, underlining how she’ll miss all of these things when she passes on.

I really loved this song. It made me reflect on the things that I love most in my life. I felt myself relating to many of the things that Musgraves mentions in this song.

Track 8: Heart of the Woods

“Heart of the Woods” is an ode to Musgraves’ new home deep in a Tennessee forest, after a life of being on the road and bouncing from city to city. This song exemplifies the fact that she finally feels grounded in her life.

I wasn’t super impressed by this track as I was by the others. It is still a good song, but it wasn’t very stand-out.

Track 9: Jade Green

“Jade Green” takes a deep dive into Musgraves’ spiritual side, exploring the holistic benefits of jade stones and moon bathing. The meaning of the song switches slightly within second half of the song where Musgraves shares that she feels just as tied to this jade bracelet as she is to the individual who bought it for her. “And I’m with you and you’re with me / Like the bracelet that you gave me” The bracelet becomes a metaphor for the couple’s enduring connection.

This was another one of the weaker tracks on the album. I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of this song compared to the other songs on the album. I didn’t really relate to it very much which is likely the reason I didn’t love it.

Track 10: The Architect

“The Architect” is airy and graceful from the very first notes, sounding like a dreamy serenade. The song opens with wonder as Musgraves contemplates the make-up of something as seemingly insignificant as an apple. She later moves on to contemplate the Grand Canyon, wondering whether it was truly just a result of a flood or whether it was planned and devised. She looks to “the architect,” the creator and mastermind behind all these things big and small, for the answers.

I really loved this song. It explored something that I think many people can relate to. We, as humans, have so many questions about the reasoning behind many things in life, Musgraves describes this beautifully in “The Architect.”

Track 11: Lonely Millionaire

This track breaks away from the folky/country side of Musgraves’ sound, incorporating more pop-sounding elements. In this song, she explains that no matter how much money or authority you have, it won’t buy you happiness. She poses the question of “who wants to be a lonely millionaire?” If there’s no one waiting for you at home after a long day or no one to share the big and little moments with, what’s the point?

This song had a much different sound than the rest of the album. I liked the switch up, and I think it suited the lyrics very well. I also really liked the message of remembering that money and fame will never bring you as much long-lasting happiness as the people who mean the most to you.

Track 12: Heaven Is

This song starts with Musgraves remembering how her and her partner had spent the day out together and how her partner had bought her a lavender rose. It’s a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but as Musgraves finds that days like these and acts like that are what heaven feels like to her.

The sound of this song was something I found very interesting. The instruments created a lullaby sound, but she fills any gaps of the song with this white noise buzzing.  It was a minor and nearly unnoticeable detail, but it added a cool element to the song.

Track 13: Anime Eyes

“Anime Eyes” is another love song of this album. Musgraves compares the feeling of being in love to the feeling of looking at the world through anime eyes, complete with color and sparkle.

One thing that I particularly enjoyed about this song was how Musgraves rattles off dozens of words during the bridge before returning to the sweet sound of the song as a whole. This was definitely a favorite of mine.

Track 14: Nothing to be Scared Of

This song serves as a sweet, stripped-down contrast to the anxieties explained in the rest of the album, encouraging the listener to push aside anxiety and be unafraid when dealing with love. Musgraves admits that she is usual in a cycle of self-destruction when it comes to relationships, but she is seeking a way to stop this cycle and move towards acceptance and an overall sense of peace.

This was a great way for Musgraves to close the album. It seemed to give the message that it is okay and a good thing to let your guard down and be vulnerable. The song is short and pretty simple, but I think that’s all Musgraves needed for the message of this song. 

Thoughts after listening

This album was stripped back and simple. It is much less busy than her previous two records. I think that the simplicity of this album matched the feeling that Musgraves is trying to evoke in the listeners. This entire album feels like the next chapter for Musgraves: a new level of songwriting and sound experimentation. The diverse matters that this album explores make it perfect for whatever place along life’s journey you happen to find yourself. I think anyone could find a song on this album that relates to something in their life.