One year after the release of her critically-acclaimed Star-Crossed, Kacey Musgraves shared a documentary chronicling the creative process behind the album. Among the revelations in the doc are that Musgraves once felt "absolutely impaled" after listening to a Chilean musician's rendition of "Gracias a la Via" while on shrooms.
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Kacey Musgraves Recalls Tripping On Mushrooms In New Short Doc
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'Star-Crossed' Tackled Musgraves' Difficult Divorce
As the follow-up to Musgraves' Grammy-winning album Golden Hour, Star-Crossed reflected on the singer's difficult 2020 divorce from fellow country singer Ruston Kelly. In the first scene of her new documentary, Musgraves describes the relief and anxiety she feels making the 2021 album.
"A lot of people are about to hear things that were very personal ruminations at one point," she warns in the scene. "Yeah, it’s just a mindf*ck."
An Inside Look At Musgraves' Creative Process
The new documentary also offers a revealing look at Musgraves' creative partnership with her producer Ian Fitchuck. In the doc, Fitchuck relates making Star-Crossed to the act of painting. At this point, Musgraves goes even further and relates it to a particular type of painting:
"It's like paint-by-number," she explains. "We had to figure out ... the ins and outs of these little sounds and little moments that were really important.”
The approach eventually paid off: Many critics pointed out Star-Crossed's intriguing blends of genres and sounds.
Don't Forget The Mushrooms!
While it's interesting to learn about Musgraves' and Fitchuck's "paint-by-number" approach to creating Star-Crossed, it's perhaps more surprising to hear Musgraves' reasoning behind including "Gracias a la Via," by Chilean singer Violeta Parra, in the album.
Supposedly, Musgraves decided on covering the Spanish-language song after a seven-hour guided mushroom trip in which she felt "absolutely impaled" by a cover of the song by Mercedes Sosa.
This turned out to be another decision that would pay off. In its review of Star-Crossed, The AV Club would claim that Musgraves' cover "serves as the final moments of gratitude for life, as with all the trouble it brings, it also brings unbridled joy. Musgraves reminds herself and us that as the sunset moves from the golden hour to dusk, the moment’s radiants color may fade, but a new day pulls closer."
The Doc Is Now Available On Paramount Plus
As of September 10, Musgraves' new documentary on Star-Crossed is now available on Paramount Plus. You can also watch the trailer here.
Musgraves recently completed a tour for Star-Crossed and will soon make an appearance at Austin City Limits Music Festival next month.
