Review Summary: Marijuana? LSD? Reptile Aliens made of light? And that's just the first song. Country newcomer Sturgill Simpson has created a brilliant album that will challenge the pop-country noise of today, and remind us of what country music is supposed to sound like
Sturgill Simpson, as of late, has been slowly taking the music-attentive public by storm. Having released two albums in the last three years independently, he retained creative control and has made two flawless albums that could've been plucked straight from the '70's Outlaw Country scene. Upon first listen, you'll notice a very similar sound to Waylon Jennings, particularly in Simpson's voice and attitude. It makes one excited for the future of country music, especially as the derivative 'bro-country' fad is on it's way out and Simpson has signed on to Atlantic Records, a major label. This could cause concern for many fans, but it has been reported that he signed on, but not without Atlantic meeting his terms of Simpson retaining total creative control. This is one of the greatest albums I've heard in the last ten years and it's an album that allows you to unearth a new gem every time you listen to it. Clocking in at just under 35 minutes, it's a short trip, but a wild ride. Recorded for just over $4,000 dollars in about four days, it adds yet another reason why this album is so brilliant. No one does albums that quickly and that cheaply and have it be hailed by many websites across the world as the album of the year.
Here are the songs, which I will dissect track-by-track:
Turtles All the Way Down. (Writers: Sturgill Simpson)
Turtles All the Way Down is the song that essentially put Simpson on the map. While played in a laid-back country style reminiscent of Waylon, the lyrics come from a whole other planet. He mentions the psychedelic drugs LSD, DMT and Psilocybin Mushrooms while simultaneously mentioning ‘Reptile Aliens made of light’. It’s very trippy lyrical content that still stays true to classic country musically. The essential statement of the song – though mentioning Jesus, Buddha, the Devil and psychedelic drugs – is that ‘love’s the only thing that ever saved my life’. Simpson is a searcher and this theme of love, searching, and psychedelics, runs through the entire album.
Life of Sin (Simpson)
This song starts out with a bang. With Sturgill yelling, “2, 3, 4!” which harkens back all the way to the Beatles classic debut album opener, “One, Two, Three, Fah!”. This song is a rollicking good time that feels fully fleshed out, while retaining the ability to breath and while using a sparse band. Simpson’s current lead guitar player, an import player from Macedonia, plays like he’s been playing white-hot country licks his whole life. It’s another very Waylon-esque tune that will surely be a highlight at his live shows.
Living the Dream (Simpson)
As mentioned before, Simpson’s a searcher. In this song, we find Simpson searching for a way to make a living in this life that doesn’t make you want to die. There are sarcastic lines that run through the tune about ‘living the dream’, and it’s as desperate a song as anything Townes Van Zandt would’ve released in his heyday. The hook of the song ends with “and I don’t have to do a g**d*** thing, just sittin’ around waitin’ to die.’ Woah. Once again, Simpson’s lead guitar player really shows his chops on the guitar with a brilliant show of guitar pyrotechnics that switch from traditional lead licks to scorching slide riffs and back again. The song really shows the bands ability to meld together into a beautifully cohesive and muscular but lean outfit.
Voices (Simpson)
Things slow down a little bit for this tune, but the lyrics hit just as hard. It’s all about the voices that are all around us at all hours of our lives. Whether these are voices of our peers, contemporaries, parents, or even those religious voices, there’s always something speaking to us. It’s up to us to decipher who we’re going to listen to. The music is simple, three chords and the truth. However, Simpson, his band, and producer Dave Cobb, have found a way to turn three chords into a mountain of brilliant but sparse arrangments. The lyrics are brilliant as usual, “…a picture’s worth a thousand words, but a word ain’t worth a dime”. Simpson isn’t being called a possible savior of Country Music for nothing.
Long White Line (Buford Abner)
The first of the pair of covers on the album is a perfectly chosen cover and executed very well. Originally written by Buford Abner many, many years ago, Simpson has brought it into the new millennium. It’s a song about being on the road, just searching for the end of that ‘long white line’. As someone who moved all the way across the country with few things more than a guitar and a backpack, I can appreciate the sentiment. The music on this tune is bouncy and funky, with the band playing the tune as if it was written by Sturgill himself – which I thought it was for a few days before I looked it up. Then, after the last chorus, the band goes into an extended jam which somehow comes out sounding like it came from outer space rather than a recording studio with four musicians. Again, it’s incredible how much the band and the producer did with such limited resources. Brilliant song, brilliant ending.
The Promise (Clive Farrington, Michael Floreale, Andrew Mann)
Simpson turns in a classic slow-burner ballad for his second cover. Originally performed by British band, When In Rome, who released the song in 1987, Sturgill took it and made it all his own. It’s not my personal favorite from the album, but everywhere else I’ve researched, I’ve found that this has been a hit with everyone else reviewing it. I can’t argue with that kind of response. Simpson took the ‘80’s tune and turned it into a torch ballad that could’ve been pulled from a dusty attic full of 1960’s and ‘70’s vinyl, which does make for a fun trip down that road.
A Little Light (Simpson)
Keeping with the spiritual vibe, Sturgill turns towards a classic gospel sound on this tune. With little more than an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, handclaps and bluegrass backing vocals, the song takes a southern gospel bluegrass sound on here while the lyrics deal with ‘walkin’ that road all the way to Heaven’. It’s a fun, simple little tune that leads well into the mini-psychedelic suite that follows.
Just Let Go (Simpson)
As we near the end of the album, which is a sad moment for me regarding this album, we find Simpson really getting into the Buddhist side of his spirituality. Musically, it’s a pretty simple tune with splashes of mellotron that remind me of druggy ‘60’s hippie jam rock. But it boasts a beautiful melody and lyrics that deal with Transmigration, divine meditative states, and ego death. The very first line of the song rockets out like a bullet from a gun. “Woke up today and decided to kill my ego”, Simpson executes with precision. Ego Death is a commonly known occurrence when dealing with psychedelic drugs, wherein the user finds himself throwing off the oppressive shackles that were his ego, and seeing himself in a different fashion, devoid of narcissism and ego. The chorus questions whether Simpson is dreaming or dying, another common occurrence specifically linked to the psychedelic drug DMT, which gives users a high dose of chemicals produced in the pineal gland in the brain that are similar to the chemicals released when a person is about to die, which leads to a psychedelic experience that must be experienced with eyes closed. Therefore, is Simpson dreaming? Or is he dying?
It Ain’t All Flowers (Simpson)
‘Just Let Go’ flows perfectly into this tune as in the recording, you can’t really hear where the first song ends and the second begins. This song is an intense tune that has Simpson claiming, “It ain’t all flowers, sometimes you’re gonna get the thorns. When you play with the Devil, you know you’re gonna get the horns.” Which then leads into a vocal shout by Simpson that can’t really be described, but needs to be heard and it fits the song perfectly. The main lyrical part of the song is only about three minutes long on this six-minute song. The second half of the song is wildly Beatlesesque, with backwards taping, crazy effects, strange loops, etc. It closes a very classic country album with a trippy coda that makes you want to start the album right over and go again. This song was very inspirational to me in terms of the experimentation on my first album, The Wild.
What more can be said of this album that hasn’t already been said by the critics around the nation? This album is perfect and I can’t wait to hear more from Sturgill Simpson, his band, and producer Dave Cobb. They are currently in the studio as I write this, working on album number three, and I know there are throngs of people around the nation and around the world champing at the bit to buy it. Hopefully he gets the true recognition and praise he deserves after releasing this coming album through Atlantic Records. I can’t wait to see what happens in country music over the next couple months and years. Hopefully there’s more Sturgill to come for a long time.
