Album Club Selection #18: Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide To Earth.

I need to invest more time in this album, it has to settle down.

The gender overlapping is fascinating. I think it's what has worked for me. It's much more than country. It's soul, funk, blues... it's avantgarde.

I love the analogy between the sailor and a touring musician, the in advance apologies to his son for going away sometimes...

Meaningful, very personal lyrics.

The strings are just beautiful, as are the sounds of the sea.

I just wanted to let you know that I've started listening to this album three times already, but something has come in the way each time, so I haven't heard more than the first three songs. I hope tomorrow.

Listened once and liked some of it very much, some of it less so. I will listen again on Tuesday's train journey.

Tried Sound & Fury when it was released, didn‘t connect and didn’t explore further. Interesting you suggest his records vary considerably. Curious to see how this one goes down.

Apparently we have one of his albums, but not this one. I have added it to my library to listen to on the train. Sounds interesting.

I'll save remarks on the record for later, but Sturgill Simpson has quickly become one of my top favorite artists. I have struggled for weeks to choose between his last three albums for this round - they are each so vastly different from the other. His latest is a roots-country concept album, a novel set to music. Before that, he put out Sound & Fury, which is a modern rock and roll concept album about a dystopian future. It was nominated for Best Rock Album at that year's Grammy awards. I chose A Sailor's Guide to Earth, which won the Grammy for Country Album of the Year and was nominated for Best Album. It's a lushly orchestrated concept album about fatherhood, as inspired by Simpson's grandfather's letters home while serving in the Navy in the second world war. It's not your typical country album.