May 1st brings the Flower Moon (so called because spring is now in full bloom) and it’s a perfect day for the return of our cherry blossom baby Kacey Musgraves with her new album ‘Middle of Nowhere’. 

Now there’s been some complaining this week among Kacey fans about the way the critics have called this album a ‘return to form’, not because they don’t like the album but because that comment seems to dismiss her last two albums Deeper Well and star-crossed. Look I loved Deeper Well, especially the title track and ‘The Architect’ which were sanity-saving songs to me but there was definitely some filler on that album, mainly in the second half. I also liked star-crossed at the time and still listen to a few songs on there but Kacey did seem kind of awkward and unhappy in that era, so I do understand where the critics are coming from. 

What both those albums really missed, and what Middle of Nowhere has in spades is simple: country music and a sense of humour. When you hear Middle of Nowhere Kacey sounds like herself again and, well, thank fuck for that. We need her genius now more than ever.