Kacey Musgraves has been riding high in 2018. The release of her third major label album, Golden Hour has been met with effusive praise from critics — including yours truly — and her performance on Saturday Night Live this weekend has been hotly anticipated. Rocking an otherworldly ’70s pantsuit, Kacey kicked things off in high gear by playing the most adventurous track off her new album first.
“High Horse” is a moody psych-pop banger that absolutely shouldn’t work and yet somehow totally does. It’s a kiss-off to the gal in the crowd who won’t stop ragging on everyone else, the guy who smugly thinks they’re superior to everyone else in the crew.
Surrounded by a massive band that includes plenty of strings players and an emblematic saddle hanging above it all, Kacey belted out the song, hitting the high notes on the chorus with ease and pacing up and down the front of the stage like the compelling live performer she has time and again proven herself to be. Whether it’s diehard fans watching at home, or people just getting exposed to her music, this is the kind of performance that will have the latter looking up her music to hear more. Later on, a smoky rendition of “Slow Burn” probably won even more fans over. Watch her first performance clip above.
