folkpop

Kacey Musgraves has put the bong down. “I used to wake and bake,” croons the country crossover star on her sixth album’s transcendentally gorgeous title track. “Everything I did seemed better when I was high, I don’t know why.” The 35-year-old’s erstwhile weed habit won’t come as a huge surprise to fans: she claimed her 2018 album Golden Hour was partly written under the influence of LSD, while its follow-up Star-Crossed took shape after a guided psilocybin mushroom trip. Yet on Deeper Well – an album teeming with 60s…

Since the release of her 2015 debut album Nueva Era, Cuban singer Daymé Arocena has established herself as one of her country’s most expressive voices. Encompassing everything from nimble jazz scatting to luscious orchestrations and breathy phrases that soar over bata drums and Santería folk rhythms, Arocena’s four albums have explored the joyous range of Afro Cuban music. Her latest record is a departure. Where Arocena has previously made music rooted in acoustic improvisation, Alkemi veers into Latin pop with 10 tracks…