I don’t think Kacey Musgraves has ever sounded better.
Yesterday, Apple Music premiered her Apple Music Live performance of songs from her recent studio album that was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the same studio where she recorded said record, Deeper Well.
It was all very stripped-back and simply done in terms of the production, very much like the album cuts themselves, and Kacey’s voice sounded absolutely perfect and angelic. She’s always been an incredible vocalist with such a pure tone, but something about it lately has just been next level, and it really shined here.
And of course, when Deeper Well came out in March, “The Architect” was the immediate standout to me, and this live performance of it blew me away. Written by Kacey along with Shane McAnally and Josh Obsorne, who are her co-writers on her hit single and all-around incredible song, “Merry Go ‘Round,” it’s an absolute stunner.
The song finds Kacey tackling some deep subject matter in terms of the universe and how we all got here, where she marvels at simple creations like an apple:
“Even something as small as an apple
It’s simple and somehow complex
Sweet and divine, the perfect design
Can I speak to the architect?”
She continues, questioning whether everything in life was meticulously designed by God, wanting to see the “blueprints and plans” for everything because of how beautiful and confusing it can all be:
“I thought that I was too broken
And maybe too hard to love
I was in a weird place, then I saw the right face
And the stars and the planets lined up
Does it happen by chance? Is it all happenstance?
Do we have any say in this mess?
Is too late to make some more space?
Can I speak to the architect?
This life that we make, is it random or fate?
Can I speak to the architect?
Is there an architect?”
It’s also Kacey’s current single at country radio, and a pretty daring move in terms of the sentiment and meaning, which once again proves her bravery and willingness to push boundaries in the country space in such an authentic way.
I think “The Architect” is a simply brilliant song, and like I said in my initial post about the album, I would not be surprised to see this on nominated for a Grammy down the road… and this more acoustic, live performance is simply perfect.
I can’t get enough, and I can’t recommend highly enough that you take a few minutes out of your day to check this out. If you have Apple Music, you can of course watch the whole show there, but if you don’t you can catch a preview of “The Architect” below:
Kacey also played other songs like the title track, “Deeper Well,” which you can can see a clip of here:
“The Architect”
