Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere Review

Two years on from an abysmal country clunker, Kacey Musgraves returns. Ripping through the inevitabilities of that modern country and pop blur once more, there is little to love about Middle of Nowhere. Those who enjoyed and engaged with Deeper Well on a deeper basis than level-headed individuals will enjoy Middle of Nowhere. They may also enjoy huffing paint or lining their walls with tinfoil to prevent radio waves from breaching their home. But the horrid sounds are already inside. Musgraves has entered. But perhaps that’s a tad harsh on the consistency Musgraves provides listeners with contemporary country music. Billy Strings and Willie Nelson lend themselves to Middle of Nowhere, the two serving as an endorsement and hook to older country fans looking to break from the middle-of-the-road miseries provided by Zach Bryan or the irony-filled swill of Morgan Wallen, a man who can identify himself as a problem yet has no urge to fix it.  

Musgraves, then, is the cream of the crop for modern-day country. We must turn to her for hope. Hardly features here, but all the same we must muddle on. It takes less than thirty seconds to get a view of the great American culture from Musgrave. Dairy Queen is what lies in the middle of nowhere. It’d be side-splitting if it weren’t an example of just how accepting consumerism has seeped into writing. Musgrave could’ve dug a little deeper, provided some stronger pushback against the fast food feeling of modern-day country, but instead, Middle of Nowhere turns into this half-hearted and insincere call for listeners to protect their peace. Find it, first, away from the Dairy Queen. From Dairy Queen it’s a drive into late-night romance, or the lack thereof, on Dry Spell. Plain and unconvincing sexualisation where the nuance and intimacy are lost for the sake of listing off problems and desire. All of it is backed by a soft rock sound that hardly captures the essence of country. It’s an iconography, not a lived-in experience, for Musgraves.  

Every song is an American stereotype. Relationship dramas, the 4th of July, and derbies. There is something decadent about it, and Musgraves misses the possibilities of quaint country stylings because these are the ramblings of a Nashville Star contestant, not a lived-in experience. Anyone can rattle off the hits of country. Musgrave seemingly apologises for “sounding like a broken record” on Back on the Wagon. She apologises for forgiving a partner, but it applies well to the butchering of country music. Instrumentally unimpressive but made worse by the ridiculous songwriting. Features from Nelson, Strings, and Miranda Lambert are not enough to save Middle of Nowhere. Each song is built around the title, and it means there are no surprises from Musgraves, no curveball to be thrown as she uses the same few instrumental stylings Daniel Tashian can provide. There’s only so much you can get from lap steel and acoustic in this range.  

Horses and Divorces at least step it up a little when it comes to instrumental stylings, but it’s hardly a winner. Those lyrical shortcomings come to haunt the album once more. Bottom of the bottle, horses, connections not through romance but through proximity and an unlikely likeness, it would be generous to call this a riff on country cliché, considering it is more the cliché than anything else. Nelson steps in on Uncertain, TX, and through his inclusion alone, it’s the best song on the album. Far from quality, but the sheer volume of his work means this’ll be forgotten in his discography, but a high point from Musgraves. All that follows is uneventful, uninteresting slop that would be better forgotten. Another modern-day country misfire. Musgraves is a symptom of the problem, rather than case zero. Her experiences are what she sings of, or at least, what she thinks country music should contain is what she provides. It’s a rough listen, all the same.