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\u201cIt\u2019s always exciting when you can feel the world kind of waking up again,\u201d Kacey Musgraves<\/strong> says, with a cusp-of-spring weather report from Nashville. \u201cThe daffodils are starting to bloom by my house. I\u2019m like, \u2018Here we go. It\u2019s almost here.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A sense of anticipation runs twofold for the Grammy-decorated musician: Friday marks the arrival of Deeper Well<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> her sixth album, which both sees her relax into a newfound groundedness and threatens to knock it akilter. \u201cI\u2019m definitely savoring the last few moments of calm for a while,\u201d she says. A show at the historic Ryman Auditorium is slated for release day. Tour dates in Europe pick up next month. The press machine churns. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s obvious that as you go into any launch period of anything, it’s going to be kind of balls to the wall,\u201d she adds, ready for the grind. \u201cBut really, I\u2019m a homebody by nature. I have loved just being by the fireplace and cuddling my dog and connecting with friends and cooking and sleeping in and, I don\u2019t know, just taking care of myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Boy Smells x Kacey Musgraves<\/p>\n Deeper Well Scented Candle<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Four years after the pandemic unleashed a monotony of self-care hashtags, the idea of well-being as muse is refreshingly matter-of-fact in Musgraves\u2019s telling. \u201cI\u2019m gettin\u2019 rid of the habits that I feel are real good at wastin\u2019 my time,\u201d she sings on the title track, calling out the gravity bong that, for a period, was a standard morning accompaniment. These days, the 35-year-old has a different fragrant pick-me-up: her second candle collaboration with Boy Smells, called Deeper Well<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s such a creative challenge to take a song from one dimension to another and let it have a life outside of just an audio track that you’re listening to,\u201d Musgraves says. \u201cI just really love thinking of creative experiences in a somatic way like that.\u201d She describes how sound waves reverberate through bodies that are largely made of water, how different chords elicit corresponding emotional shifts. \u201cScent is definitely tied to memory, obviously, [as is] sound\u2014so it\u2019s fun to imagine, what would a song smell like?\u201d<\/p>\n For Boy Smells cofounder Matthew Herman,<\/strong> the seeds of their partnership are rooted in music. \u201cI\u2019m from Austin\u2014we\u2019re both Texas girls,\u201d he says in a video call from Los Angeles. He remembers watching the 2014 Grammys, where Musgraves dazzled the crowd in light-up boots; he later caught a New Year\u2019s Eve show where she opened for Willie Nelson,<\/strong> and another at Marfa\u2019s Trans-Pecos festival. As in all modern relationships, there was the requisite DM\u2014Musgraves hitting up Boy Smells. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Kush is my favorite fucking candle ever. I love you guys. That\u2019s it. Bye!\u2019\u201d Herman recounts. \u201cAt that time, she was really smoking weed and [into] hallucinogenics and being a plant medicine pro,\u201d he explains. Meanwhile, he found Musgraves\u2019s values\u2014\u201cof relentless honesty and loving yourself and embracing who you are, and not holding to the expectations of the past and of the genre\u201d\u2014in sync with Boy Smells\u2019 come-one-come-all ethos and expressive scents. Their first creation together wasn\u2019t a Kush spinoff but rather Slow Burn<\/a>, aptly named after a single on Musgraves\u2019s fourth album, Golden Hour,<\/em> with a smoky hit of incense, amber, and black pepper. The candle arrived in 2020, a month before lockdown sent the home-fragrance category skyrocketing. It sold out in a brisk 12 hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n If there\u2019s a through line to their second collaboration, it stems from the \u201csort of zen-ness in both of the songs,\u201d says Musgraves, \u201cin that way of slowing down and making space for things that really matter.\u201d She imagined the Deeper Well candle to smell like hugging someone familiar, with lingering traces of the outdoors. That translates to a blend of patchouli and oakmoss, mushroom and lavender. There\u2019s a leathery quality from \u201ctons of Iso E Super,\u201d adds Herman, plus \u201cjust a tiny bit of gourmand-y yumminess\u201d by way of raspberry and saffron. To him, it\u2019s second skin meets woodland earth\u2014in other words, quite a match for a homebody musician lately living a bucolic life alongside deer and wild turkeys.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n