The music on Deeper Well, the
seven-time Grammy winner’s fifth album, is almost chimeric. Rolling
acoustic guitars, puffy clouds of strings and synth, warm bass
punctuations, layered harmonies, moments of Celtic melody and plenty of
room on the tracks for Musgraves’ silvery vocals. On the bright, almost
folky title track, the 30-something songstress surveys her life and
priorities, recognizing what feeds her, drains her and even examines the
childhood she’s left behind on her way to now.
Saturn returns,
cardinals embody a dead friend, love is given and taken, streets rush
by, belongings are packed and old chapters deserted, new love blooms,
jade bracelets serve as talismans, deep lessons emerge, small details
define everything, the woods are a refuge and New York City serves as
the same gleaming beacon as Oz.