Kacey Musgraves shocked me with a newly released album on Thursday! Her last album, Golden Hour, was my #1 Album of 2018, and received all types of awards. It’s a classic, an album any artist would kill to have just one of.

After any classic album like this - I think of Tame Impala’s Currents or Arctic Monkey’s debut album - There’s a lot of expectation for the next album but also a bit of leeway because it’s very, very hard to recreate perfect again, and a band has to go in a totally different direction - think Radiohead’s Kid A - to make another classic. Usually, the album after a classic sounds like a B-Side to the classic: similar sounds, still great tracks, but not the same magic. Musgraves’ star-crossed is the latter.

It’s a very good and listenable album, nowhere near Golden Hour, and is more of a mellow, stoner’s ride through Musgraves’ divorce peppered with some sass and pop.

It’s a wistful goodbye to her marriage and ex-husband. Given the stage she has, she was reasonably kind to her ex (and who knows what all really happened, of course, you never get both sides). Though she makes her point that he couldn’t handle her fame and attention.

It wasn’t a revenge “Dear John” Taylor Swift-style attack, it was more of a retrospective and thoughtful, “So I think this is how we got here…” with a few punches thrown in here and there.

Her vocals carry everything. She has such a delicate and gorgeous voice, and it sounds like no one else. That’s her biggest magic trick to me, and as she keeps experimenting with sounds (and drugs!), it will be interesting to hear where she goes.

On another note, Isaiah Rashad dropped a new version of “H2BU” which trims the fat from the track on his new album. “H2BU” on his album is seven minutes and two songs in one, and the first song is amazing and not so much food the second song. So he created a version where it was just the first song, one of my favorite tracks on one of my favorite albums of the year.

Drake’s new album is pretty disappointing, but I have to listen to it more. There are still great tracks. I love how he comes right in and attacks “No Friends in the Industry.” Great rap track.

Now this song by Jack Harlow and The Homies, “White Lies,” was more of what I was hoping for with his recent album. This is just a feature he’s on, but it’s pure Harlow.

Disclosure released some tracks, and no surprise, the songs are awesome. These guys have quality control down.