ALBUM REVIEW: As Johnny Blue Skies, Sturgill Simpson Wrings Every Drop Out of Heartbreak

Sturgill Simpson says he intended to release five albums under his own name, and then record as someone else. (He’s already put out seven, but never mind.) So now he’s become Johnny Blue Skies, whose “debut” longplayer, Passage du Desir, is a harrowing account of terminal loneliness and romantic disaster. Should this rebranding raise fears of an unwelcome tangent — hold the synths, please! — don’t worry. The music is instantly recognizable as pure, brilliant Sturgill, a bracing blend of country, pop, and bluegrass that shows off his expressive voice to commanding effect. Nobody mixes anguish and determination better.

Although some songs recall longtime influence Waylon Jennings, Passage du Desir is nicely diverse. The accordion- and mandolin-tinged opening track “Swamp of Sadness” has an easygoing backwoods flow, and the breezy “Right Kind of Dream” features a pumping groove fit for the dance floor. The bluesy “Scooter Blues” evokes the playful boogie of T. Rex, while the Al Green-worthy gem “If the Sun Never Rises Again” spotlights Simpson’s potential to be a great soul crooner.

Sturgill Simpson (photo by Semi Song)

But a cloud hangs over the proceedings. He’s trapped in a “cycle of solitude and sin” on “Swamp of Sadness,” and approaches desperation to the strains of his twangy guitar in “Who I Am,” initially “going through changes and finding clarity” only to conclude, “They don’t tell you when you die it’s all a sham.”

The tortured nine-minute ballad “One for the Road” is a blunt postmortem of a failed relationship, with Simpson singing, “There’s nobody but me left to blame … I love you, but I broke it,” and adding, “We both know you’ll be better off after you’ve gone.” Regret suffuses every note.

“Jupiter’s Faerie” explores the heartrending repercussions of such a harsh separation. Echoing Elton John, this string-laden epic finds Simpson discovering that a long-lost flame has passed on, seemingly by suicide. “Today I read the news, you were gone / You’d left a year ago, chose to check out and move on,” he sighs. Consumed by grief, he decides, “There’s no happy endings, only stories that stop before they’re through.” What might have been mawkish feels genuinely tragic.

Eloquent and unsparing, Passage du Desir is a potent cocktail of tender beauty and profound melancholy. Whatever else Sturgill Simpson has planned for Johnny Blue Skies, the two of them are off to an unforgettable start.

Johnny Blue Skies’ Passage du Desir is out July 12 via High Top Mountain Records and Thirty Tigers.