Yet, when digging into the content itself, I’d even argue the lyrics have taken a slide in quality compared to past Simpson works. SOUND & FURY is a soundtrack, alright – a soundtrack to one’s own demise. Some fans have cited SOUND & FURY as Simpson’s way of shoving a giant middle finger in the face of the country music industry, and while I’d argue against that completely, even in terms of instrumentation and production, the larger point is that Simpson is giving a giant middle finger to everyone: wannabe critics like me actual journalists fans who want another stone-cold country record from him fans who hold him to a God-tier status, expecting brilliance that even he’ll admit he can’t always deliver to, last but oh so certainly not least, the music industry in general. Granted, that sense of drowning is likely intentional, given the lyrical content.

Sure, he’s fairly powerful wailing on “Best Clockmaker On Mars” and “Fastest Horse In Town,” but he can’t even cut through to deliver the hooks on those tracks. Here, that does show itself in the content (albeit in a much different way, but more on that later), but the vocal production is at its most exasperating when Simpson chooses to bury his voice between feedback and reverb. Yes, enunciation is the most cited issue for Simpson, but the larger issue comes in wondering why he’d choose to bury one of his best assets! His thick Kentucky accent may have always been hard to get used to, but his emotional range is damn near unmatched, often finding him reflective of his past through existential musings and other forms of strife. There’s no easy starting discussion point with this album, but one criticism that easily carries over from past Simpson works is the vocal production. Even as someone who never bought into the Simpson fandom, yet still liked his work, SOUND & FURY is a good, genre-bending slice of synthwave and rock, but it’s the kind of project, too, where Simpson feels burned out both creatively … and literally.

Honestly, perhaps it’s just a cause of burnout from never knowing what Simpson is going to do next, but despite delivering a fairly potent adrenaline rush in SOUND & FURY, this also scans as his least interesting album to date in nearly every department. As already mentioned, country fans wanting another High Top Mountain left years ago, and for everyone else … well, SOUND & FURY may be a soundtrack, but it needs to stand as its own work of art without the help of the film, so how did it turn out? And, after leaving Atlantic Records and turning his love of Japanese culture into an anime film and subsequent soundtrack in SOUND & FURY, it does make one wonder who’s left, in terms of his fandom. I’d say to just throw out expectations for Simpson from now on, but if that’s an alarming statement for anyone in 2019, they haven’t been paying attention. Musically, though, one could even argue Simpson burned that bridge a long time ago, even though A Sailor’s Guide To Earth wasn’t nearly as huge of a departure from country music as some fans claim. From trying to burn every bridge with the country music community (because if he didn’t, of course country radio would play his material anyway … yeah, that’s it!) to saying in a recent interview that, had he won the Grammy award for A Sailor’s Guide To Earth, he would have handed the award to Beyoncé and walked out of the building (the best choice for those respective albums, to be honest). For as much as attention as he still draws from fans, you can tell Simpson no longer wants that.

The long version: Even with the buzz of a new album and accompanying anime film, Sturgill Simpson feels like an afterthought these days.Īnd, believe it or not, that’s not a negative remark I’m making about him it’s a commentary on his actions over, well … his entire career.

Least favorite track: “Best Clockmaker On Mars”.

Favorite tracks: “Remember To Breathe,” “All Said And Done,” “Sing Along,” “Ronin,” “Fastest Horse In Town”.

The short version: Sturgill Simpson delivers a pointed criticism toward the music industry, though I’d argue this album falters in its execution.

Best clockmaker on mars