Sturgill Simpson | A Sailor's Guide To Earth LP (Clear Vinyl)

A Sailor's Guide To Earth is Sturgill Simpson's third full-length album and follows his breakthrough, Grammy-nominated 2014 release, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music. Beloved by critics and fans, the record was featured on year-end "best of" lists at The New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice's Pazz and Jop, Rolling Stone Country, NPR Music, American Songwriter, Stereogum, the Los Angeles Times, KCRW, Pitchfork, The Washington Post and many others.

While still unmistakably country, writes Pam Torno of The Absolute Sound, of the music featured on A Sailor's Guide To Earth, it's "a little more cosmic, with hints of chamber pop, Southern rock, and a healthy helping of Stax-style soul."

Produced by Simpson, A Sailor's Guide To Earth was written-beginning to end-as a letter to his first child who arrived during the summer of 2014 and features eight original songs as well as a rendition of Nirvana's "In Bloom."

Recorded primarily at Nashville's The Butcher Shoppe, Simpson was joined in the studio by Grammy Award-winning engineer David Ferguson (Johnny Cash, John Prine, "Cowboy" Jack Clement) and assistant engineer Sean Sullivan. Along with members of his touring band, the album features Dave Roe on bass, Dan Dugmore on steel guitar, Dougie Wilkinson on bagpipes, Garo Yellin and Arthur Cook on cello, Jonathan Dinklage and Whitney LaGrange on violin and special guests The Dap-Kings.

"The premise — a concept album addressed to his own son and wife — might sound corny, but the result is a beautiful and earnest record that flips the defeatist subtext of Metamodern on its head. The moods on A Sailor's Guide to Earth are brighter than on Metamodern, and the instrumentation on songs like "Keep It Between the Lines" — much of it provided by Sharon Jones' backing band, the Dap-Kings — is denser, bolder, and more rhythmic than anything Simpson has steered previously." — Pitchfork

1. Side 1
2. Welcome To Earth (Pollywog)
3. Breakers Roar
4. Keep It Between The Lines
5. Sea Stories
6. In Bloom
7.
Side 2
8. Brace For Impact (Live A Little)
9. All Around You
10. Oh Sarah
11. Call To Arms