After teasing something new in the leadup to the 2024 Grammy Awards, Kacey Musgraves used the show to make a more formal announcement: Her fifth studio album is on the way.
Musgraves was onstage during the Grammys to present the Best Country Album of the Year trophy — an award won by Lainey Wilson — and during the ad break that followed, an unconventional commercial spot starring Musgraves began to bring the picture more clearly into view.
Set against a lush, verdant backdrop of fields and forests, the singer could be seen reclining in the grass and spending time with animals: She touches a horse’s muzzle, walks with a flock of ducks and kneels in a field as a hawk-like bird lands on her shoulder. Next, we see a close-up shot of something she’s writing in a notebook, including the phrases “wasting my time” and “no regrets, baby.”
The whole thing leads up to a shot of Musgraves, a sunbeam shining across her face, with the URL to her website written across the bottom of the screen.
“My Saturn has returned,” she sings in the background, set to atmospheric music.
Shortly after the commercial aired, Musgraves added three more posts on her social media account, all of which seemed to fit the same aesthetic as the commercial — and all of which revealed lines that might just be lyrics to new music.
“I’m saying goodbye to the people that I feel are real good at wasting my time. No regrets, baby, I just think that maybe you go your way and I’ll go mine,” she writes in the caption of one post, with a photo of herself holding an acoustic guitar.
“It’s been a real good time. But, you’ve got dark energy, something I can’t unsee, and I’ve got to take care of myself,” she writes in another caption, set against a photo of sheep.
“I found a deeper well,” she concludes in a third post.
- For at least her past two album cycles, Musgraves has been known for creating an elaborate, immersive world to go along with each project.
- Her most recent projects are the bubbly and blue-skied Golden Hour and dark, dramatic Star-Crossed. The latter album, her latest release, came out in September 2021.
Musgraves hasn’t yet shared the name or cover art of her next album. However, a look at her website reveals a complete revamp for her new era, with the ability to pre-order a project currently only identified as “KM5” — aka, the singer’s initials, and the fifth studio album she’s gearing up to release.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes