First release off new album, “Sing Along” and which also coincides with the release of his new and fourth album, “Sound & Fury”, as well as an accompanying anime film on Netflix, can be found, here:
I've listened to the album through a few times now. First one I was skeptical; but I am now fully on board. Album is fantastic, and far ranging. Per his own words, he is only releasing 5 albums, and this is his 4th. It'll be sad if he sticks to that commitment.
It’s not as weird as I expected. Fairly simplistic rock and roll core with lots of spacey guitar and synth woven in. I probably enjoyed it more first listen than I did Sailor’s Guide.
I briefly met him backstage after his last show in Knoxville. I told him that I’d heard him say that he’s only doing five albums, and asked if he was sincere in saying that. Without a wisp of hesitation he said (paraphrasing, but close to verbatim) “Absolutely - I’m done after five.” He went on to say that every artist’s sixth album is just a commercial money grab, usually, “because their contract for the first five is so terrible that they can’t really cash in on better terms until the sixth”. He said, “If I can’t say what I want in five albums, a sixth won’t help, and I should probably go do something else at that point, anyway.” Money talks, and time changes things, but that’s what he told me. Also, he was assigned to a spook outfit in the Navy, which is still incredibly hard for me to picture. His dad was a State Trooper in Kentucky. I also read that he’s recently left Nashville and moved “east, closer to the Smoky Mountains”.
Same. If he wasn’t a “country singer” it’d be a pretty standard rock album. Each of his albums start out sort of weird for me, and grows on me as I listen to them more. From a purely personal perspective, A Sailor’s Guide is the best album of all-time, IMO. Better than Thriller, Exodus, Rumours, etc. I’ll never love an album like I love that one - just hit at a perfect time for me, I guess.
Sailor's Guide is complicated...takes a while to appreciate it fully. For a "country album" it's a magnum opus. I'm sure the more I listen to S&F the more nuggets I'll find, too.
Yep. On first listen I didn’t really like Sailor’s. Or maybe probably more fair to say I didn’t get it or wasn’t really hearing it. Love it now.
I just can't fully jump on board with him. I like quite a bit of stuff, but then I just can't get on board the really "Deep" stuff.
I can absolutely see this. If you listen to his albums back-to-back, it’s odd / amazing how wide are the genres he integrates / traverses from one to the next. Worse (better?), there is little segue between them. While that kind of freedom must be great as an artist, it absolutely comes at a price, because not every fan of one album can easily follow him to the next. I prefer some of his albums to others, and while I’m still getting used to this album, it’s easily my least favorite, as I write this. 1. Sailor’s Guide: 10 out of 10 2. High Top Mountain: 9 out of 10 3. Metamodern Sounds: 8.5 out of 10 4. Sound & Fury: 7(ish) out of 10 The one thing that I don’t prefer about Sturgill is that it isn’t just the impact that his weird / chaotic transitions have on the music, and for his fans, but on his band - and who he scuttles through at quite a clip. He ditched both Little Jo and the horns section after Sailor’s Guide, and I think the only original band member he still has left is the drummer, and who he knew from his hometown. He ditched Little Joe because he wanted to move himself to lead guitar...and which he’s not capable of a fraction of what Little Joe could do. From what little I’ve read and gleaned, there’s never any doubt that it’s his show and that his vision is absolute and unquestionable. That has served him well, no doubt, thus far, for sure. I’m not at all saying he’s an asshole for doing it, as it’s both his gig and is probably necessary given the difference in styles from one album to the next, but I’d selfishly like to see him keep the original artists together for touring, if nothing else. I’m sure that he won’t suffer with trying to find another lead guitar and horns, but replacements never sound quite as good as the original artists, IMO, because they can’t replicate all of the little nuances that an original artists arrived at in producing the original work. He’s easily my favorite artist, bar none, and one of the few that I’d actually travel and pay to see....but I certainly understand if some jump off and on, from one album to the next.
His drummer is different than the drummer he had in Sunday Valley too. His old bass player is now Margo Price's bass player.
His new album is weird, I like it, but I like him singing Listening to the Rain or I Never Go Around Mirrors the best, I think. You want to fall down a rabbit hole, just youtube him and then youtube Sunday Valley. The difference in the stuff he does is insane.
Here’s my extremely musically illiterate review*: Ronin - huge fan of instrumentals, so I quite like one. Very cool intro song, would be great to open a show with and transition into another song Remember to breath Sing Along A Good Look It took me a couple listens to get into these songs, but I’d rate them fav to least in this order 3, 1, 2. Make art not friends Swear to god the first time I heard this track I thought he was covering Just What I Needed by The Cars The next 3 are a good mix of slow and uptempo. I like them. Probably go Last Man Standing, then Best Clockmaker...then All said and Done. Mercury in retrograde I swear this one was going to be some kind of opener to any 80s synth album you can find, but it quickly sheds that stereotype. Fastest Horse in Town - Best song on the album, and reminds me of his earlier stuff with a electric guitar over the top of it. Overall, it’s different, not what I was expecting, but I like it better than the last album with all the horns. Strong B *Full disclosure, I don’t have a single musically talented bone in my body.