Kacey Musgraves' Fifth Studio Album 'Star-Crossed' Is a 'Rollercoaster of Emotion'

By Daniel S. Levine

Kacey Musgraves' new album, Star-Crossed, reflects the changes in her life since she released the incredibly successful Golden Hour in 2018. Many of the songs on Star-Crossed are about the heartbreak Musgraves felt after her divorce from Ruston Kelly and the healing process. During a stop on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Thursday, Musgraves described the new record as a "rollercoaster of emotion."

Musgraves said her fifth studio album's title comes from an "interesting, old term" that means, "You're ill-fated. You are doomed by the stars. You are f—ed celestially." She said this was a "nice way" to describe the album's title, adding, "There's a rollercoaster of emotion on this record, and the film that we made, I mean, it's kind of a wild ride."

Star-Crossed was announced in August, with the title track released as the lead single. "Justified" was also released as a single. Other titles on the album include "Cherry Blossom," "Good Wife," "If This Was a Movie," "Camera Roll," "Hookup Scene" and "What Doesn't Kill Me." Musgraves wrote all the songs on the album with Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, with a few others contributing. The album ends with a cover of "Gracias a la Vida," written by Violeta Parra.

The album is also accompanied by Star-Crossed: The Film, which was also released on Paramount+ Friday. The movie was directed by Bardia Zeinali and includes cameos from actor Eugene Levy, RuPaul's Drag Race winner Symone, and rapper Princess Nokia. The film was "incredible to make," Musgraves told Colbert, notes PEOPLE.

Although many may describe Star-Crossed as a "divorce album," Musgraves told NPR the album is still built on a foundation of "love and gratitude." The six-time Grammy winner noted, "I think that all albums are kind of an amalgamation of where you've been since people last heard from you. And for me, that was about that. So, so much has happened. It's almost hard to even encapsulate everything that I've experienced and learned through this last chapter."

Golden Hour earned Musgraves the Grammy for Album of the Year and Best Country Album, and Musgraves is not about to forget that album's importance to her career. "I feel like mostly that record allowed me to get closer to total creative freedom and just feeling the confidence in following my creative gut and not feeling the need to stick to one sound or anything," she told NPR. "I think that it was really gratifying to change up the game sonically for myself so much and have it received so positively. It made me feel, at the very least, following what makes you feel really good will always connect with people, you know."

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