And it doesn\u2019t even matter if the album is country or not. Every indication we have about Mutiny After Midnight<\/em> so far is that it probably won\u2019t be country at all. But a lot of people believed that about 2024\u2019s Passage Du Desir<\/em> when it actually had a handful of country moments, and the very country \u201cMint Tea\u201d has emerged as the album\u2019s most popular track. <\/p> And even though it wasn\u2019t exclusively a country record, Passage Du Desir<\/a><\/em> was still a great work of music, and was even nominated for Album of the Year here. An open heart and mind will be brought to whatever Sturgill Simpson \u2026 or Johnny Blue Skies releases. And it\u2019s a shame when others recuse themselves from music that might resonate with them due to preconceived biases. <\/p> But man, if Sturgill Simpson hasn\u2019t given into the most insufferable aspects of his persona with the rollout of Mutiny After Midnight<\/em> so far, cementing negative sentiment with multiple cohorts, and acting like he is so above us all and beyond reproach as a \u201ctrue artist\u201d that us peons should be happy to vacuum up whatever refuse is left in his wake because his iconoclastic brilliance is so beyond our even wildest comprehension. <\/p> If you\u2019re reading this right now, you\u2019ve probably already seen the letter Johnny Blue Skies posted on Thursday (2\/12) ahead of formally announcing the new album\u2019s release date on Friday. You can see full letter below if you haven\u2019t. The upshot is that the album was recorded with his touring band, was all self-produced and written on the spot, and that Sturgill considers it a, \u201ca dance record,\u201d a \u201cprotest,\u201d and \u201cpure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism.\u201d <\/p> More specifically he states, \u201c\u2026we decided to make an album centered firmly on groove. We started every day from scratch with a basic groove, I wrote the songs and lyrics in the moment on-the-spot, and everyone established their individual parts servicing the songs and not the individual ego.\u201d<\/em><\/p> Joining Johnny Blue Skies on the album will be drummer and backing vocalist Miles Miller, lead guitarist Laur Joamets, bassist Kevin Black, and keyboard\/saxophone player Robbie Crowell. \u201cEach is a star in his own right. And together, we reflect each other\u2019s shine,\u201d<\/em> Simpson says. <\/p> Mr. Blue Skies seems patently aware that where this album goes, not everyone will follow. \u201cEverything won\u2019t be for everyone, but everything tends to eventually find everyone it was meant for. You win some, you lose some, but in the end you\u2019re left with the real ones. And the real ones are for life\u2026\u201d <\/em><\/p> Sure, that goes for any artist or work of music. But let\u2019s please not imply you\u2019re an inauthentic human if you\u2019re not willing to follow Johnny Blue Skies on his journey of \u201crelentless disco-hedonism.\u201d Let\u2019s just wait and hear the music before we make such proclamations. Sturgill says that he\u2019s taking his cues for protest from the French. After spending time in the country, he says he admires, \u201ctheir unmatched ability to threaten injustice with a good time. If they feel infringed upon by overreach in even the slightest form, French people will simply go on a country wide labor strike, shut down the subways and the economy, and completely fill the streets with music and people from all walks of life dancing together, sometimes butt ass naked on top of bus stops.\u201d<\/em><\/p> Boy that all sounds like a big party. But Sturgill forgot to mention the destruction and violence that has permeated French protests, including back in 2023 when \u201c3,880 fires were started, 2,000 vehicles were burned and 492 buildings were damaged\u201d during only one such protest according to ABC<\/a>. More recently, this summer a 17-year-old and 23-year-old were killed, and 192 were injured in riots after a soccer game<\/a>. <\/p> Perhaps the most controversial move by Sturgill is choosing not to release the music digitally whatsoever. Mutiny After Midnight<\/em> will only be available via vinyl, cassette, and CD \u2026 at least to start. Johnny Blue Skies has decided to take a page from the Garth Brooks school of making your music irrelevant by making it inaccessible to the vast majority of people where they are and how they listen\u2014meaning in their cars, at or during work, or working out. <\/p> Yes, we\u2019re all extremely, extremely aware that Spotify only plays out 0.0003 per stream, or whatever it is on average. This model has also made a millionaire of Sturgill Simpson and many others. It\u2019s really the little guy who can\u2019t go physical only and expect their music to reach a sustainable level that is getting squeezed in the system. And sure, the fact that nobody just puts on a record and listens anymore as a primary activity is a shame. That still doesn\u2019t feel like a good reason to limit an album\u2019s reach. <\/p> Also, Sturgill Simpson has decided to partner back up with Atlantic Music Group\u2019s Atlantic Outpost to release Mutiny After Midnight<\/em>. Remember the whole kerfuffle in 2019 when Sturgill swore that Atlantic and the entire music industry had screwed him over so royally that he made an entire protest noise rock album called Sound & Fury<\/em> complete with an anime video? <\/p> If this is all about the music and the little guy, why wouldn\u2019t Sturgill stick with Thirty Tigers? Why funnel any money to a major? And by the way, shout out to Jason Isbell, the Turnpike Troubadours, and others for staying independent even when their careers exploded. <\/p> Sturgill says in the Atlantic press release, \u201cThis is a new and very different Atlantic Records than my last go-around. Mostly, I\u2019m very excited and honored to be working with my dear friend Ian Cripps, and to finally bring to fruition a vision we initially shared together over ten years ago.\u201d<\/em><\/p> Though we don\u2019t have any music or a single from the album just let, they have released some of the lyrics to the opening song \u201cMake American Fuk Again.\u201d <\/p> Been learning lessons and getting bubbles busted As Simpson also mentioned in his lengthy letter, he seems to have either been diagnosed, or come to terms with an autism prognosis. Perhaps that explains, or maybe even excuses some of his mercurial and curious tendencies, including with this album rollout. <\/p> There\u2019s just a lot to unpack here. And if Sturgill Simpson ultimately wanted the music to speak for itself, he kind of failed in that endeavor. But if you write off Sturgill Simpson\/Johnny Blue Skies summarily, you run the risk of failing yourself as a music fan. Not Simpson\u2019s words, but the music is what will matter here. <\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/savingcountrymusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/johnny-blue-skies-and-the-dark-clouds-mutiny-after-midnight.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/savingcountrymusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/johnny-blue-skies-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\r\n