Sturgill Simpson won many fans with his 2013 debut album, High Top Mountain – a set of unapologetic ’70s outlaw country music. For Simpson’s sophomore release, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Simpson recorded live-to-tape in four days at a Nashville studio with Jason Isbell and producer/engineer Dave Cobb.The songs on Metamodern Sounds are more varied and textured than those of his debut. The Waylon Jennings-esque style vocals remain, but there is less honky tonk and pedal steel and more Appalachian gospel, folk and psychedelia, courtesy of a spacey collection of guitar, drums, and mellotron. Highlights include the opener and first single “Turtles All the Way Down” which is introduced by his 82-year-old coal-mining grandfather, Dood Fraley. Others include: the rocking country boogie on “Life of Sin”; the country coal-mining tune “Voices”; the cover of Charlie Moore/Bill Napier’s trucker anthem “Long White Line”; the rocking country-gospel “A Little Light”; and the Buddhist inspired gospel track, “Just Let Go.” Like Simpson’s authentic and heartfelt brand of honky tonk, Metamodern Sounds is thoughtful and inspired. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | JP Harris & The Tough Choices, John Moreland, Waylon Jennings, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s