Kacey Musgraves Says Next Album Inspired by Weezer, Daft Punk, Magic Mushrooms

In a new cover story in Elle magazine, Kacey Musgraves says her follow-up to breakthrough 2018 album Golden Hour was inspired by some unusual EDM and rock sources. And, maybe, psychedelic mushrooms.

The magazine spoke to Musgraves after what is described as a particularly stressful pandemic lockdown, which came after her split from husband and fellow musician Ruston Kelly in July 2020, who she credited with inspiring Hour when she won album of the year at the 2019 Grammy Awards. “I could have coasted for another couple of years,” she said about having to stew in her emotions during the year-plus pandemic lockdown, “just not paying attention to my feelings or not really dealing with some things.”

Instead, Musgraves dug deep and wrote 40 songs, 15 of which will appear on the as-yet-untitled album slated for release in late summer/early fall. The collection is described as somewhat Shakespearean, unfolding in a three-act structure that popped into her head just days before hitting the studio. “The word tragedy just popped into my mind. And I was like, ‘Whoa, what if the album was formulated like a modern Shakespearean or Greek tragedy?,'" she said of the inspiration that struck as she was laying on her bed journaling and listening to Bach.