Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour

Nashville’s most openly progressive country singer steps farther out of the box. The album defies many of the genre’s trappings; the songs are more often about uplifting insights than heartache and loss, and neither Musgraves’ voice nor her guitars twang. The production is lush and ambient, a far cry from rustic. Exactly three of the songs embrace familiar country themes and tropes, but only whilst winking. Yet this is not a pop or folk or alt-country or blues album; even after all the outward manifestations have been stripped away it is still nothing other than a country album. Kacey Musgraves exalts and country music even in the act of abandoning it, showing what’s left when you strip it to its core. Highlights: “Space Cowboy,” “Slow Burn,” “Oh, What A World”