A Sailor's Guide to Earth

A Sailor's Guide to Earth
Studio album by Sturgill Simpson
Released April 15, 2016 (2016-04-15)
Studio Butcher Shoppe in Nashville
Genre
Length 38:54
Label Atlantic
Producer Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson chronology
Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
(2014)Metamodern Sounds in Country Music2014		 A Sailor's Guide to Earth
(2016)
Singles from A Sailor's Guide to Earth
  1. "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"
    Released: March 3, 2016
  2. "In Bloom"
    Released: March 24, 2016
  3. "Keep It Between the Lines"
    Released: January 30, 2017

A Sailor's Guide to Earth is the third studio album by American country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson. It was announced on March 3, 2016, with the release of the single "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)". The album was released on April 15, 2016,[1] and won Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards; it was also nominated for Album of the Year.[2]

Background

Prior to the album's announcement, Simpson stated in an interview with GQ that "what's next is already finished... Quite honestly, I need about six months at home with my family."[3] On March 3, 2016, Simpson released "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" on YouTube and his website; the next day he released the nine-song track list of A Sailor's Guide to Earth.[4] A week later, he published the music video for "Brace for Impact", which was directed by Matt Mahurin and contains the Grim Reaper, a hot rod coffin and sailboats.[5] On March 24, 2016, Simpson released his cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" along with its music video, also directed by Matt Mahurin. Simpson said, "I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt [Cobain]."[6] Streaming of the album became available on April 7, 2016, on NPR's official website.[7]

The song "Oh Sarah" was previously recorded by Simpson's former band Sunday Valley and appeared on their only full-length album, To the Wind and On To Heaven, in 2011.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Consequence of SoundB[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA-[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Pitchfork Media8.0/10[13]
Slant Magazine[14]
Spin Magazine7/10[15]

A Sailor's Guide to Earth received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 19 reviews.[8]

The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 52,000 copies (55,000 units when tracks and streams are included) in its first week.[16] The album sold a further 13,400 copies in the second week.[17] The album has sold 210,100 copies in the US as of July 2017.[18]

Following his Grammy win, Simpson saw a 346% increase in streaming on Spotify.[19]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
19
Rough Trade Albums of the Year 2016
91
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
26

Track listing

All tracks written by Sturgill Simpson except "In Bloom", which is written by Kurt Cobain.

No.TitleLength
1."Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)"4:53
2."Breakers Roar"3:33
3."Keep It Between the Lines"4:01
4."Sea Stories"3:17
5."In Bloom" (Nirvana cover)4:01
6."Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"5:49
7."All Around You"3:36
8."Oh Sarah"4:15
9."Call to Arms"5:30
Total length:38:54

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 108
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24] 31
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[25] 66
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] 39
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[27] 34
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 43
US Billboard 200[29] 3
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[30] 1
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[31] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[32] 1

References

  1. ↑ Matthew Strauss. "Sturgill Simpson Announces New Album A Sailor's Guide to Earth, Shares "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  2. ↑ "59th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees and Winners". The Grammys. 2016-12-06. Archived from the original on 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  3. ↑ Will Welch (2016-01-07). "The GQ&A: Sturgill Simpson, Country Music’s Psychedelic Warrior-Philosopher". GQ. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  4. ↑ Carolyn Menyes (2016-03-04). "Sturgill Simpson Reveals 'A Sailor's Guide to Earth' Tracklist with Nirvana Cover & Tour Dates". MusicTimes. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  5. ↑ Andrew Leahey (2016-03-10). "Watch Sturgill Simpson's Surreal 'Brace for Impact' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  6. ↑ James Grebey (2016-03-24). "Listen to Sturgill Simpson’s Country Cover of Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’". SPIN. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  7. ↑ Ann Powers (2016-04-07). "First Listen: Sturgill Simpson, 'A Sailor's Guide To Earth'". NPR. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  8. 1 2 "A Sailor's Guide to Earth Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  9. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  10. ↑ Schaults, Janine (2016-04-11). "Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  11. ↑ Vain, Madison. "Sturgill Simpson's A Sailor's Guide to Earth: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  12. ↑ Hermes, Will (2016-04-14). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  13. ↑ Goble, Corban (2016-04-19). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  14. ↑ Winograd, Jeremy (2016-04-21). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  15. ↑ Larson, Jeremy (2016-04-13). "Review: Sturgill Simpson Preps a Son of a Sailor on ‘A Sailor’s Guide to Earth’". Spin Magazine. Retrieved 2016-12-07.
  16. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (April 24, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson and Santana Debut in Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  17. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (May 5, 2016). "Country Album Chart Report: May 5, 2016". Roughstock.
  18. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (July 10, 2017). "Top 10 Country Album Sales Chart: July 10, 2017". Roughstock.
  19. ↑ http://uk.businessinsider.com/william-bell-was-the-grammys-biggest-winner-according-to-spotify-2017-2?r=US&IR=T
  20. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  22. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Stereogum. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  26. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 16, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Folk Albums for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
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