Musgraves is another young songwriter who shows why women are leading the way to something more heartfelt and also balancing the increasingly pop-orientated output of Taylor Swift and the like. Texas born Kasey’s songs tend to have a similar edge those of Loretta Lynn. Merry Go Round is built around prominent banjo riff and tells of life for so many young people who seem trapped in a life that goes round and round going nowhere, much like the merry go round of the title. It has received a lot of attention in the U.S. Elsewhere the album looks at the attitudes and alienations that modern life tends to throw up. Blowin' Smoke, Keep It to Yourself and Step Off all consider the morals, moves and motivations of people Musgraves observes around her, yet she can also look at herself and express what she feels in song.
Kacey has co-produced the album with Luke Laird and Shane McAnally and it is a contemporary mix of acoustic and electric instruments in a polished combination which should appeal to the more open of radio programmers. On occasion, as with Stupid, the beat is kicked up a notch in an anthem-like refrain to acting stupid. Follow Your Arrow shoots at the hypocritical confines that all too often society levels at those in its midst. It has a fairly hippie-esque philosophy of "say what you think… you only live once", a plea to live and let live. Throughout Musgraves is a convincing vocalist who delivers these songs with a believability that marks her out as an all rounder with something honest to say.
It may be the same trailer and a different park but there is something here that makes a whole lot of sense no matter where the location is.