March 30th 2018. It was Springtime, and Kacey Musgraves was releasing her fourth album, “Golden Hour”. Since the very first moment I listened to it, I loved it and I considered it was a masterpiece. It was 7 am today, in France, when I read the news on my laptop and was informed that CMA had considered it was the best album of the year. To say that I was very happy would be an understatement. The truth is I was waiting for this result since I knew the album was nominated in this category. For me, this award was a foregone conclusion. Even though, I think it’s a very meaningful award.
What music is and always should be: the mirror of an artist’s soul
“Golden Hour” is like a meteorite breaking through the atmosphere and giving us a glimpse of astral mysteries. I don’t say that because this album is celestial and even ethereal. I use this metaphor because I think that the high artistic quality of “Golden Hour” tells us about what music is and always should be: the mirror of an artist’s soul. What I feel listening to “Space Cowboy”, “Butterflies” or “Slow burn” is a mix of emotions because Kacey Musgraves chose to make an uncompromising album, reflecting who she is, regardless of musical industry reaction. In other words, it’s an independent album with very high standards.
Some people criticized “Golden Hour” for not being a country album. I created this blog because I’m a country music lover, and I’m sure about one thing: if country radios were playing more songs of this album, they would gain in authenticity and quality. When we have such artistic quality, classify is not relevant. The only thing to do is listen and hope that Kacey Musgraves’ fifth album will fill us with enthusiasm as “Golden Hour” did all along this year.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 