Album Review: Golden Hour , Kacey Musraves

With one foot set firmly in traditional Nashville country, and the other in classic ’70s FM rock, Texan Kacey Musgraves has been hailed as the new Taylor Swift in some quarters. She’s probably too fully-formed and (let’s-face-it) mature – even at 29 – to take on that dubious mantle.

But Musgraves does have the attitude, talent and pop smarts to become a major mainstream star (the fact that she looks like a young Emmylou Harris in promo photos, with more than a touch of Bobbie Gentry’s ’60s Southern sultriness, also her no harm at all). And she can definitely sing – her voice is effortless and natural, though oddly familiar.

Recorded in Sheryl Crow’s studio with a more polished sheen than her first two albums, she doesn’t quite throw out the old on Golden Hour. On tunes such as ‘Slow Burn’, she croons, “Texas is hot, I can be cold/ Grandma cried when I pierced my nose”. It might come across as a declaration of breaking with the past, but then the rhythm section locks in with a laid-back groove reminiscent of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’.

There are some genuinely engaging pop tunes here: ‘Lonely Weekend’ is heavily inspired by Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, as is the sumptuous ‘Wonder Women’. Meanwhile, ‘Happy & Sad’ – despite the trip-hop rhythm – could be a Bangles tune. Elsewhere, ‘Oh What A World’ begins with a slightly jarring vocoder effect on the vocals, but still boasts a memorable melody; ‘High Horse’ is a delightful jazz-pop excursion; and the country-flavoured ‘Butterflies’ is the most Swift-like number.

With Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves has crafted a truly gorgeous album – expect the Grammy nominations to roll in.

Record label: MCA / Universal
Listen to: Slow Burn
Rating: 8/10