Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide To Earth (10th Anniversary) (Rhino/Atlantic)
In case you missed it, Sturgill Simpson’s cosmic country classic, A Sailor’s Guide To Earth was reissued in January as part of Rhino Record’s Start Your Ear Off Right campaign and in honor of its 10th anniversary, the Grammy-winning album also received the Rhino Reserve treatment. It is now available on 180 gram black vinyl with lacquers cut by Matthew Luthans at his California-based studio, The Mastering Lab.
Originally released in 2016, Simpson’s third album and major label debut for Atlantic Records was a critically-acclaimed progressive take on the classic Country & Western sound with the addition of spacey synths and funky 70’s-informed horns supplied by The Dap Kings. Led by three outstanding singles – “Brace For Impact (Live A Little)” with its spaced-out synths, his slow-burning tribute to Nirvana’s “In Bloom” and the strutting saloon-worthy swagger of “Keep It Between The Lines” – the album won Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards and was also nominated for Album Of The Year.
In addition to those singles, other standouts include the gentle ebb and flow of the steel guitar and syrupy strings on “Breakers Roar” and “All Around You” with its plinking piano, stirring strings and horn-driven groove that wraps his outlaw country sound in tender soul balladry.
Upon its original release, the back cover of the album listed a suggestion: “TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”, a suggestion usually reserved for heavier rock or punk albums but with this new Rhino Reserve reissue of A Sailor’s Guide To Earth, Sturgill Simpson fans can do just that without fear of loss of quality with a sound that matches the importance of the album. –Justin Kreitzer for Icon Fetch