The country singer takes a nearly NSFW mud bath as she ponders the complexity of nature
Kacey Musgraves is a confident earth mother in the new music video for “The Architect,” her Grammy-nominated song off her latest album, Deeper Well.
Filmed somewhere in a desert landscape, the video finds Musgraves communing with nature and all its earthly creations. She ponders a shiny red apple, rides a white horse, and walks through creeping snake-like roots. Musgraves also assembles an outsized jigsaw puzzle made of grass, piecing together a grand lawn.
But the segment that’s sure to get the most buzz involves Musgraves rolling around naked in mud, which amounts to a nearly NSFW spa treatment. (The country singer has rarely been afraid to bare it all: For a limited vinyl release of Deeper Well, Musgraves posed naked for the cover in the fetal position in a bucolic field.)
“The Architect,” written by Musgraves with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, is a dissertation on the meaning of life. “Even something as small as an apple/It’s simple and somehow complex,” she sings. “Sweet and divine, the perfect design/Can I speak to the architect?” The song is nominated for Best Country Song at the 2025 Grammys, while Musgraves’ performance is up for Best Country Solo Performance. Deeper Well is also nominated for Best Country Album.
Musgraves sang “The Architect” at last month’s CMA Awards, a mesmerizing performance that ranked as one of the show’s high points. The singer-songwriter will wrap up her Deeper Well tour this weekend in Nashville with a pair of shows at the Bridgestone Arena. Another Deeper Well track, “Cardinal,” appears on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2024.