Golden Hour
*“Excited for you to sit back and experience *Golden Hour* in a whole new, sonically revolutionized way,” Kacey Musgraves tells Apple Music. “You’re going to hear how I wanted you to hear it in my head. Every layer. Every nuance. Surrounding you.”* Since emerging in 2013 as a slyly progressive lyricist, Kacey Musgraves has slipped radical ideas into traditional arrangements palatable enough for Nashville\'s old guard and prudently changed country music\'s narrative. On *Golden Hour*, she continues to broaden the genre\'s horizons by deftly incorporating unfamiliar sounds—Bee Gees-inspired disco flourish (“High Horse”), pulsating drums, and synth-pop shimmer (“Velvet Elvis”)—into songs that could still shine on country radio. Those details are taken to a whole new level in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos. Most endearing, perhaps, is “Oh, What a World,” her free-spirited ode to the magic of humankind that was written in the glow of an acid trip. It’s all so graceful and low-key that even the toughest country purists will find themselves swaying along.
The mystical grandeur of Golden Hour creates a magnetic effect as Kacey Musgraves sings simply about the world as if she’s the first person to notice, and you’re the first one she’s telling.
Kacey Musgraves' 'Golden Hour' and Ashley McBryde's 'Girl Goin' Nowhere' show country artists making up their own rules and delivering classic songs.
Our writers take a look at this week's releases, from the wide-eyed country pop of Kacey Musgraves on 'Golden Hour' to the bare, anti-folk stylings of Mount Eerie on 'Now Only'
Golden Hour shimmers with the vivid colors that arrive when the sun starts to set, when familiar scenes achieve a sense of hyperreality.
Owing much to the stagnant nature of modern country music, Kacey Musgraves—along with acts like Chris Stapleton and...well, that's pretty much it—has appeared to be somewhat a beacon of hope that this genre isn't all outdated musings of heady optimism
Drugs, futurism, LGBTQ rights … Musgraves’ new album confirms she is not your average Nashville star