Sturgill Simpson’s latest, under another name, is every bit the equal of his classic Metamodern Sounds release from a decade ago.
Johnny Blue Skies is the non de plume of cosmic country artist Sturgill Simpson, a name derived from the liner notes of Simpson’s 2014 unforgettable Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. We called it the country album of the decade, both for its songwriting and its production values, which were cosmic indeed. Over the intervening years Simpson vowed to release no more than five records under his own name. He is a man obsessed with identity and the perils of fame. Passage Du Plasir sums up not only his career, but the trajectory of his human relationships.
Gone are the R & B horns and the psychedelia that distinguished his earlier work. Gone as well is the heavy accent on bluegrass that characterized the two album set from a few years back entitled Cutting Grass. The new album is guitar-based, with some interesting string arrangements that conjure up a celestial feel. What is gratifying is that Simpson has recovered from rupturing his vocal cords back in 2021, which resulted in a lengthy break from recording and touring.
“The Swamp of Sadness” opens the album, and sets the scene for a series of melancholy meditations on the nature of relationships, the quest for identity, and the inevitable sadness and heartbreak associated with loss. The centrepiece of the album “Jupiter’s Faerie” is an extended exploration on the breakdown a friendship, and the too-late reaching out to mend things between former close friends. “Who I Am” addresses the age-old dilemma of separating what we do from who we are. The closer, “One For The Road”, isn’t exactly an update of the Frank Sinatra classic, although it covers much of the same ground, albeit this timewith the protagonist shouldering the blame for what went wrong.
That’s not to say the album is entirely downbeat. Both “Right Kind of Dream” and “Mint Tea” are positive, while “Scooter’s Blues” is a hard-driving pleaser.
Johnny Blue Skies may be a one-album wonder, but what a wonder.
