Early in her new album, Kacey Musgraves delivers one of the most jarring moments of her career — “God help me be a good wife,” she pleads on the second track, marking a sharp departure from the breezy, casually convention-defying tone of most of her work up until this point. Star-Crossed (★★★☆☆) is a testament to what we all find out at some point, that the end of a long relationship is even more emotionally complex and messy than we expect. “Justified” sits in the uncomfortable, uncertain middle ground of a dead relationship whose feelings refuse to die with it. Despite her sober, reflective headspace towards her marriage and its collapse, Musgraves allows herself to indulge in some spite in the album’s second act. While imperfect, Star-Crossed succeeds on its own terms as a record of a relationship that has fallen apart and a meditation on the emotional fallout that follows.

Source: MetroXpress October 01, 2021 15:56 UTC