Sturgill Simpson refuses to let his music be boxed in by any labels. His newest album, Sound & Fury, has a new single and accompanying music video. The song is titled “Sing Along,” and the album will drop at the end of September, with an accompanying Netflix anime movie set to the music of the album.
While there’s no escaping that thick Kentucky drawl in his voice, Simpson’s ability to shift between genres was already on full display with his Grammy-winning 2016 album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, where Simpson mixed his traditional country roots with the sound of the Dap-Kings. If you haven’t yet listened to that record, I highly recommend you do.
The fact that “Sing Along” is such a departure for Simpson shouldn’t come as a big surprise, as he’s gone on record stating he wanted to drift even further away from traditional country sounds with his upcoming work.
I was fortunate enough to see Simpson in concert last year, and his act was definitely more rock focused than country, even when he played older songs off High Top Mountain or Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.
Sailor’s Guide may have shown hints that he was ready to leave his country roots behind for a while, but I don’t think I was prepared for this particular single and video. The music itself oozes rock and roll while still sounding uniquely Sturgill. He’s never what you quite expect but he is always awesome.
On top of the dynamite music, the Netflix-produced Sound & Fury anime has fans of the genre excited as well. The film was made in collaboration with Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai) and filmmaker Junpei Mizusaki (Batman Ninja) and will be a collection of animated shorts for all 10 songs on Simpson’s “Sound & Fury” LP.
The title Sound & Fury is interesting in its own right. Is it a reference to William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury? It could also come straight from Shakespeare’s Macbeth as well. I’m leaning towards Faulkner if for no other reason than Simpson is also from the south, but there’s just as much a chance that the title is unrelated to either.
If I can fanboy out for a minute, I would say that Sturgill Simpson is on the Mount Rushmore of “alt-country” or “Americana” artists for most fans of the genre. He’s credited with helping revitalize a movement away from the bro-country mess that Nashville created. Through his music, he’s helping establish a genre where artists, especially southerners, can be artists and not feel boxed into a style because of where they’re from.
He’s using his clout to get newer artists more recognition, all while breaking new ground in new genres. Selfishly, I would love for him to pivot back to his roots one day, but I’m here for the ride regardless.
Before you go, here’s a list of songs on the album:
- 01: Ronin
- 02: Remember to Breathe
- 03: Sing Along
- 04: A Good Look
- 05: Make Art Not Friends
- 06: Best Clockmaker on Mars
- 07: All Said and Done
- 08: Last Man Standing
- 09: Mercury in Retrograde
- 10: Fastest Horse in Town
The Sound & Fury anime film hits Netflix on September 27, and you can order the album of the same name here.
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