Golden Hour: Clear Vinyl LP

For the upcoming Golden Hour, following her heart meant trying out new styles as well as writing some of the most honest and genuine tunes of her career. Musgraves describes her new LP as having a “trippy” twist, citing the Bee Gees, Sade, and Neil Young as influences. And while she’s often celebrated for her clever wordplay and witty turns of phrase about small-town life, Musgraves says she avoided wrapping every lyric “up in a little bow” in favour of more direct, reflective songwriting. In addition to reuniting with previous collaborators such as Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, and Natalie Hemby, Musgraves sought out pals Ian Fitchuk and the Silver Seas’ Daniel Tashian as her primary co-producers and co-writers. While she was working on the album, Musgraves quite literally experienced the golden hour when this summer’s solar eclipse — whose path of totality included Nashville — occurred on her birthday.