Same Trailer Different Park
“Merry Go ‘Round,” the spectacular gut-punch single from 24-year-old Texan country singer Kacey Musgraves, dropped out of the clear blue sky in September. Same Trailer Different Park proves Musgraves is for real. Although she sings just fine, she doesn’t have a powerful voice; like all Nashville bands, hers can play, but the music is careful, meticulous, midtempo. But man, can Musgraves write. The album showcases a songwriting voice you won’t hear anywhere else in pop: young, female, downwardly mobile, fiercely witty. The loping “Follow Your Arrow” advocates nonconformity, pot-smoking (if you feel like it) and homosexuality (if you’re so inclined). “Blowin’ Smoke” is a blues-tinged short story about nicotine addiction and waiting tables in Vegas; “It Is What It Is” is the best, saddest ode to friends-with-benefits sex you’ll ever hear. Musgraves’ tunes are as supplely catchy as Taylor Swift‘s; the lyrics bite as hard as Elvis Costello‘s. More, please.