Kacey Musgraves says the title of her new album came to her the day after she went on a “deeply guttural, spiritual, terrifying” psilocybin mushroom trip.
“I did it with a doctor friend here and her husband. It’s called plant therapy,” the country star told The Guardian. “Through the experience, I was blindfolded, and on a comfortable couch with a soft blanket, this music was playing and all the things I was seeing were in my mind’s eye. The music was painting this whole story, pulling from childhood memories, experiences, thoughts. I was feeling every pluck of a string in my body, senses start to mix, you feel colours… it’s so hard to explain.
“The day after, you’re encouraged to journal and re-listen to the playlist, triggering some of the emotions that you felt then. So that’s what I was doing the day after, when the word ‘star-crossed’ popped into my mind as a title, and the concept of a modern tragedy, the acts: the exposition, the climax and the downfall, then the resolution.”
Musgraves performed the album’s title track on Sunday night’s MTV VMAs.
She has announced a tour to support star-crossed next year will include a Jan. 24 show at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
Musgraves said she is looking forward to putting on “a more pop-style production.”
She explained: “There’s part of me that loves the flash, and this album lends itself to being really theatrical, almost like a borderline fantasy, but I want my songs to translate if it’s just me and my guitar. It’s a balancing act.
“I’ve thought about bringing the four-poster bed onstage.”