Kacey Musgraves Teases That She's Mulling a New York Move: 'Always Browsing Zillow, Acting a Fool' (Exclusive)

Kacey Musgraves' feelings for New York City run deep.

The singer-songwriter, 35, reveals in a new interview with PEOPLE that she contemplated buying a home in N.Y.C. after recording her new album Deeper Well (out now!) in the Big Apple.

"Girl, I'm always browsing Zillow late at night, acting like a fool — it's my favorite," the country star, whose home base is Nashville, shares. "I wouldn't rule it out, but I do have a community in Nashville that I know that I couldn't find anywhere else."

She adds, "I think New York City is a very special place, and I feel really inspired to create there for sure."

Musgraves' new music marks a transformation for the star — both personal and professional. She says her focus remains on putting her most honest and authentic self forward.

"This life is so short. I think that you have to be a little bit ruthless in removing obstacles for growth," she says. "That could mean adjusting your expectations with family members. That could be putting a pause on a friendship. It could be a breakup or dropping a habit that just doesn't serve you well anymore. It's being awake enough to be tuned in to paying attention to what the flow of nature is trying to tell you about what you need."

This real, stripped-down, boundary-setting approach to her life and music is also evident in the music video for the title track off her new album.

"Ultimately, the song sums up where I'm at in my mid-30s and really evaluating what love means to me, what friendships mean to me, what are the things that I need, what is really serving me and not serving me," she tells PEOPLE of Deeper Well. "It's [about] taking stock and making room for the things that actually do really matter."

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While filming the "Deeper Well" music video in Iceland looks idyllic, Musgraves revealed in a new interview on The Tonight Show, that there was some drama behind the scenes.

"We picked literally the worst possible week to go. I was so excited. It was on my bucket list," she shared. "It was, like, high wind advisories. I almost got blown off that cliff. Like, ‘This video will be my death announcement.’ It was a sheer drop down to the ocean. I mean, it was treacherous. Even the locals were like, ‘This is some scary s---.’"

Her sixth studio album also includes ballad "Too Good to Be True," with a music video dropped Friday showing the star as she faces stress in the spotlight, and the moving album opener, "Cardinal," which was inspired by her late friend, the country icon John Prine, who died in April 2020 of complications from Covid-19, writing.

"Unexplainable things started happening and cardinals started showing up on my doorstep soon after my good friend and mentor passed, John Prine," Musgraves, writes in the zine for her album. "He always had a big connection to cardinals and felt that they were messengers from the spirit realm. He inspired this song, no doubt."

For more from Kacey Musgraves, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere now.

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