At her mainstage Coachella performance in 2019, Kacey Musgraves led the audience in a chant between songs: “When I say YEE, you say HAW.” When she stayed silent for a beat and the crowd shouted “HAW” anyway, she chided them: “I didn’t say fuckin’ yee.” There’s a lesson here, which is that Kacey Musgraves works on her own time, regardless of our expectations or demands. And with her new album, Middle of Nowhere , she has decided to ride in on her high horse and settle back into some down-the-middle country. Folks, she’s finally said fuckin’ yee. To describe Middle of Nowhere with a rustic cliché, Musgraves is going back to her roots. Our introduction was the single “ Dry Spell, ” a sultry, funny, and pristinely constructed song about not having had sex in 335 days. “Lonely with a capital H, if you know what I mean,” Musgraves coos, “I’ve been sitting on the washing machine.” This isn’t the Kacey of 2024’s Deeper Well , omm -ing her way through pain, blaming any errant troubles on the astrological climate.…