Kacey Musgraves Hints at Ex Having ‘Dark Energy’ in New Song

Kacey Musgraves seemingly threw shade at a past ex in her new song, “Deeper Well.”

“So I’m sayin’ goodbye to the people that I feel / Are real good at wastin’ my time,” Musgraves, 35, sings in the new track. “No regrets, baby, I just think that maybe / You go your way and I’ll go mine / It’s been a real good time / But you got dark energy, somethin’ I can’t unsee / And I’ve got to take care of myself.”

While dropping the title track and music video on Thursday, February 8, the country singer also announced that her fifth LP, Deeper Well, will be released on Friday, March 15.

“It’s a collection of songs I hold very dear to my heart,” Musgraves wrote via Instagram alongside the album’s cover art. “I hope it makes a home in all of your hearts, too.”

Elsewhere in “Deeper Well,” Musgraves says that “everything started to change” when she turned 27, which would’ve been in 2015.

Musgraves met Ruston Kelly in 2016, and the twosome tied the knot the following year. In July 2020, Musgraves and Kelly, 35, announced their separation, finalizing their divorce two months later.

After the divorce, Musgraves admitted she could’ve “coasted for another couple of years,” but the coronavirus pandemic forced her to “face the truth” and ask herself tough questions.

“In many ways, on top of the world in my career, but in my personal life, I felt like I was dying inside,” she recalled to Elle in May 2021. “I was crumbling. I was sad. I felt lonely. I felt broken.”

Following her split from Kelly, Musgraves was also briefly linked to Dr. Gerald Onuoha in April 2021. She moved on with poet Cole Schafer in August 2021, but Us Weekly confirmed in November 2023 that the pair called it quits.

Related: Kacey Musgraves and Cole Schafer: The Way They Were

Kacey Musgraves connected with poet Cole Schafer after her split from Ruston Kelly. “He did not know who I was, which I loved,” the singer recalled to The New York Times in August 2021 of meeting her beau in a crowded restaurant. “A handful of grown men come out, and they’re sweating trying to keep up with […]

After the breakup, a source exclusively told Us that their decision to separate didn’t come down to just “one thing.”

The insider explained that Schafer, 29, wasn’t a fan of the “glitz and glamour” that came with dating Musgraves, adding that the twosome’s “personalities didn’t exactly gel” in the end.

The source said that Schafer didn’t like “attending all these events as Kacey’s plus-one,” noting that he’s “an extremely sensitive, soulful guy who doesn’t share her ambitions.”

A second insider told Us that the reason the pair decided to split may have been because of the idea of wedding bells in their future.

“Kacey and Cole weren’t seeing eye to eye in terms of where they are in life right now, [so] they decided to end things,” the second source said.