Watch Kacey Musgraves Perform Gorgeous ‘Slow Burn’ on ‘Colbert’

Much has been made about the pop and electronic flourishes on Kacey Musgraves’ new LP Golden Hour, but when she visited The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday night the Grammy winner was tuned in to her singer-songwriter roots with a gorgeous rendition of “Slow Burn.”

The opening track from Golden Hour, which is out now, “Slow Burn” was written by Musgraves with her producers Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, but hadn’t been previewed before the late-night telecast. In many ways, it’s a convergence of the old and new from Musgraves, starting off with a characteristic wisecrack as she sings, “I haven’t been early since ’88.” What follows is a gentler, less cynical take on romance and letting the world come to you, which builds into a harmony laden bridge that would fit in with Illinois-era Sufjan Stevens.

“As much as I do love those clever, witty type songs, even I can get a little tired of that,” Musgraves told Rolling Stone Country this week in a new interview. As an introduction to what lies ahead on the new record, “Slow Burn,” which features banjo and electric piano, would seem to be a perfect summation. “I still love steel guitar and banjo, but I thought it would be dope if we put that with a vocoder and explored that world,” she added.

Musgraves is scheduled to make stops on The Today Show and The Ellen Show in coming days, before picking back up with Little Big Town’s The Breakers Tour at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 5th.