Album Review: Kacey Musgraves, ‘Pageant Material’
by Kelly McCartney (@theKELword) for FolkAlley.com
There’s a reason sophomore albums are considered a tough nut to crack. An artist has only a year or two to write a batch of tunes that stack up to the batch from their debut that they had their whole pre-debut life to write. Whether or not that debut was successful, the artist also has to decide to stay that artistic course or branch out in a different direction. Kacey Musgraves stayed firmly put on ‘Pageant Material,’ her follow-up to the wildly successful ‘Same Trailer, Different Park.’
Taken on its own, without any knowledge of its sibling, ‘Pageant Material’ is a fun and lovely album. The songs are overflowing with memorable melodies, clever catchphrases, and pitch-perfect performances. And the first five cuts, from “High Time” through “This Town,” are as thoroughly appealing as anything in her arsenal. At the heart of that mini-set is the sweet-but-not-saccharin “Late to the Party” which serves very nicely as the free-wheeling Millennial’s version of a love song. It also provides a wonderful counterpoint to the snappy repartee of “Dimestore Cowgirl,” “Pageant Material,” and “This Town.”
But, then, in the number six slot is “Biscuits.” The album’s first single can’t help but be compared to the high watermark of Musgraves’ career that is “Follow Your Arrow.” In fact, a casual listener would be forgiven for confusing the two — that’s how similar they are in style and substance. Throughout the second half of the cycle, the comparisons could easily continue, but taking a step back allows “Somebody to Love,” “Miserable,” and “Good Ol’ Boys Club” to shine on their own merits, in their own lights. Trouble is, albums in an artist’s career don’t exist in a vacuum, so a lot of these tunes make the whole feel like ‘Same Trailer, Another Different Park.’
No question, Musgraves is a talented and spirited artist who is shaking things up in the best of ways. Here’s hoping she applies some of that boundary pushing to album number three.
