The Nicholist #22
Post-Masterpiece Syndrome
Welcome to The Nicholist! My weekly list of pop culture where I gush on everything that’s got me obsessed.
Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves suffers from Post-Masterpiece Syndrome. A scientifically diagnosed syndrome that affects one’s career when one creates a masterpiece and follows it up with works that don’t surpass said masterpiece, so the general public denotes that everything post masterpiece is bad. In this case: Kacey Musgraves and 2018’s Golden Hour1.
star-crossed, Kacey’s first album after her opus Golden Hour, was her attempt to Taylor Swift herself into the mainstream, heavily fusing pop and dance into her country, folk, and rock oeuvre. However, the album was hit with Grammy Award genre drama, criticized for lyricism that was too literal, and called out for being a too obvious grab for the mainstream. The album, however, is not bad at all! What is too literal can perhaps be interpreted as intimate and what is interpreted as thirsty can rather be seen as an evolution of an artist experimenting with a new symphony of sounds to create a genre-blending album. C’mon, it’s her “divorce album.” Is she not allowed to fuck shit up?
Her most recent album, Deeper Well, was released this week and finds Kacey retreating back into the woods of her country and folkly roots. Yet again, the album is unfairly shat on for not being better than Golden Hour. Pitchfork rated the album a 6.8—even worse than star-crossed’s 7.7. But to me, Deeper Well is a jewel. It’s an album album that I want to listen to in full every time I put on a song from it. It’s sonically dreamy and lyrically revealing—and even though she’s a quintessential whisper queen, I think her vocals shine in new ways on Deeper Well.
All this pop music criticism to say: Find a Cure for Post-Masterpiece Syndrome.
Deeper Well faves: “Cardinal,” “The Architect,” “Anime Eyes,” the vocals on “Heaven Is,” the lyric “Made some breakfast, made some love / This is what dreams are made of.”
“Heart Feels Heavy” by Meg & Dia
Meg & Dia is my favorite band2. I discovered them as two emo Asian teens singing rock songs at the Myspace tent at the Vans Warped Tour. And since then I’ve been a ride or die. Their new single “Heart Feels Heavy” is being branded as a return to their 00’s emo-pop-rock roots. The guitars riff with the sound I remember from that Myspace tent, but the lyrics reflect a more 2020’s POV that can only be sung by 30-year-olds. Song on repeat. Nostalgia has won.
Abingdon Theatre Company Playwright Spotlight
It me. Watch my playwright spotlight with Off Broadway’s Abingdon Theatre Company.
“Immortal Freestyle” by Saweetie
I love it when Saweetie decides to talk her shit and rap RAP.
“Kasing Kasing” by juan karlos and Kyle Echarri
Probably my absolute favorite song right now. Check back here during Spotify Wrapped season cause I’m calling it—2024 Top 5!
Other sufferers of Post-Masterpiece Syndrome include Carly Rae Jepsen and 2015’s E•MO•TION.
I love them so much that the obnoxiously long title to my award-winning play, “if all that You take from this is courage, then I’ve no regrets,” is just a full-on lyric from their song “Kiss You Goodnight.”