“Middle of Nowhere” – new single “Dry Spell”

Just days after teasing new music on social media, Kacey Musgraves is back – and more blunt than ever before.

The singer-songwriter has released new single “Dry Spell,” a charming, all-too-familiar country confessional about sexual abstinence. “It’s been a really long 335 days/And the last time, it wasn’t good anyway,” she sings. “I’m so lonely/Lonely with a capital ‘H,’ if you know what I mean/I’ve been sitting on the washing machine.” The accompanying video – directed by Musgraves and Hannah Lux Davis – shows Musgraves on a lonely stroll through the supermarket.

“Dry Spell” is the first taste of Musgraves’ new album “Middle of Nowhere,” out May 1st via Lost Highway Records. The 13-track tracklist includes collaborations with Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings and Gregory Alan Isakov.

Liminal spaces and loneliness

“The majority of this album was written during the longest single period of my life,” Musgraves said in a statement. “I found that for the first time it felt truly incredible to be alone, to exist in a space defined by no one else. I became fascinated by the concept of liminal space – geographically and emotionally. We don’t stay long enough in these transition zones, these empty in-between worlds, rushing to define the next thing.”

She added: “I became so comfortable with being in the ‘middle of nowhere’ – in many ways – and sitting in the discomfort of the undefined. I had a lot of time to creatively wander and lean into myself in different ways: horses, humor, writing with my early partners, and a very simple, inspired life between Texas, Tennessee and Mexico.”

Musgraves co-produced “Middle of Nowhere” with her longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk. The LP – her sixth studio album – takes its name from a sign she discovered in her hometown of Golden, Texas (“Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere”) – a town with fewer than 300 residents.

After “Deeper Well” and “Star-Crossed”

“Middle of Nowhere” follows “Deeper Well” (2024) and “Star-Crossed” (2021). In 2023, Musgraves appeared on three standout duets: the number one hit “I Remember Everything” with Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan’s “She Calls Me Back” and Madi Diaz’s “Don’t Do Me Good.”

The new album marks Musgraves’ first release since returning to Lost Highway, the label that first signed her in 2011. When she reunited with the label last year, Musgraves emphasized that this wasn’t a “return” to country. “I want to make it absolutely clear that I never left,” she said at the time. “It’s always been my home base and really the place where I’m happiest sonically. But I’ve always had an exploratory foot out the door from the beginning, allowing myself to weave in all these other genres that appeal to me.”

“Middle of Nowhere” tracklist

• 1. “Middle of Nowhere”
• 2. “Dry Spell”
• 3. “Back on the Wagon”
• 4. “I Believe in Ghosts”
• 5. “Abilene”
• 6. “Coyote” feat. Gregory Alan Isakov
• 7. “Loneliest Girl”
• 8. “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy” feat. Billy Strings
• 9. “Horses and Divorces” feat. Miranda Lambert
• 10. “Uncertain, Texas” feat. Willie Nelson
• 11. “Rhinestoned”
• 12. “Mexico Honey”
• 13. “Hell on Me”