Five months after going underground following two years of world tours, Johnny Blue Skies (formerly known as Sturgill Simpson) has returned with news of a new album, Mutiny After Midnight.

In a lengthy missive to fans, the normally tight-lipped singer-songwriter laid out the intentions and inspirations behind his second album under the name Johnny Blue Skies. Unfortunately, the 872-word artistic manifesto does not include a release date for Mutiny After Midnight.

“WHAT’S BEHIND THE ‘MUTINY AFTER MIDNIGHT’?” Sturgill Simpson writes in the opening of the letter. “In a word, kinship—The majority of this band has been on the road together on and off and on again for over thirteen years. We have all grown sometimes together and sometimes apart. But we’ve never felt more ‘together’ than right now. I couldn’t be happier.”

The musician born John Sturgill Simpson goes on to explain that the upcoming album was inspired by watching old clips of the cult jazz-fusion band Stuff on the tour bus. He and his band—composed of drummer and backing vocalist Miles Miller, lead guitarist Laur Joamets, bassist Kevin Black, and keyboardist/saxist Robbie Crowell and rebranded as The Dark Clouds—also took inspiration from lesser-known concept albums, including Marvin Gaye‘s In Our Lifetime. Drawing from those inspirations, Skies/Simpson writes, “we 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.

“You can break down the songs on this album into two categories,” he continues, “the dark state of the world and the bright state of love. Light lives in darkness just as darkness lives in light. I have come to find over time that it’s far easier to just embrace contradictions rather than attempting to resolve them. Hence ‘Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds’.”

He then goes into a dissertation on what “mutiny” means in this context.

The enjoyment we experienced in making this album of songs will be quite evident for the listener. But it’s a lot more than joy. You can call it a mutiny… an open rebellion.

In any case, despite the motivations behind it the mutiny in the studio turned into a party. To categorize Mutiny is tricky, but many will no doubt come with their glass ceilings to try. We believe the term American Music pretty much says it all. And for all the big ideas behind the “Mutiny,” there’s a simple goal we as a band set out to achieve: to make a dance record.

So this protest, this mutiny is really more about the primary dance. The dance of all creation. To be clear it is a protest against oppression and suppression, and the only tried & tested true antidote to that is pure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism.

Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies also previewed a coming tour for Mutiny After Midnight. Once again, he did not provide any concrete details like dates or tickets, but rather spoke to the general ethos of the tour, writing, “Just as I have come to see and harness my own neurodivergence and the weaponized autism of our collective members as a superpower in the studio—the same is true live.” However, he did state that they will play arenas and theaters “with a vengeance” and no opening act. “We’re going to take every minute the venue gives us.”

In conclusion, Sturgill Simpson lets out a rallying cry for the coming tour and Mutiny After Midnight album cycle. The swashbuckling marauders of alt-country-rock—or as he simply deemed it “American Music”—will commandeer stages with the same tenacity that followed Simpson’s yearslong, medically-induced musical exile. Now flying under the flag of Johnny Blue Skies, the musician seems committed to proving on a nightly basis that he has the most badass band in existence, stating, “There will be no quarter nor mercy offered nor given.”

Read the full Mutiny After Midnight note below and stay tuned for more announcements from the dread pirate Johnny Blue Skies.

WHAT’S BEHIND THE “MUTINY AFTER MIDNIGHT”?
In a word, kinship—
The majority of this band has been on the road together on and off and on again for over thirteen years. We have all grown sometimes together and sometimes apart. But we’ve never felt more “together” than right now. I couldn’t be happier.
This is the band I’ve dreamed about being in since middle school. Last year we did two complete laps around the U.S. and a tour of Western Europe. Between gigs this past September, we went into a brand new gorgeous studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Inspired heavily from endless hours on the bus watching old clips of the great fusion-funk band Stuff, and revisiting off-the-beaten-track concept records like Marvin Gaye’s In Our Lifetime, where, in what looks like the end of the world, the artist’s response is, “Let’s dance and make love”… we 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.
You can break down the songs on this album into two categories—the dark state of the world and the bright state of love. Light lives in darkness just as darkness lives in light. I have come to find over time that it’s far easier to just embrace contradictions rather than attempting to resolve them.
Hence “Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds”…
The enjoyment we experienced in making this album of songs will be quite evident for the listener. But it’s a lot more than joy. You can call it a mutiny… an open rebellion.
In any case, despite the motivations behind it the mutiny in the studio turned into a party. To categorize Mutiny is tricky, but many will no doubt come with their glass ceilings to try. We believe the term American Music pretty much says it all. And for all the big ideas behind the “Mutiny,” there’s a simple goal we as a band set out to achieve: to make a dance record.
So this protest, this mutiny is really more about the primary dance. The dance of all creation. To be clear it is a protest against oppression and suppression, and the only tried & tested true antidote to that is pure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism.
My voice is just one element in this band and at all times this band is far too good to ever be overshadowed by a vocalist. So I just want to say how grateful I am to be a part of this band of brilliant musicians—drummer and backing vocalist Miles Miller, lead guitarist Laur Joamets, bassist Kevin Black and keyboardist/saxist Robbie Crowell. Each is a star in his own right. And together, we reflect each other’s shine.
I’ve spent the greater part of the last few years trying to escape what we shall refer to as “the static.” Mostly through intense travels. One thing I will say based on observations about the French is their unmatched ability to threaten injustice with a good time. If they feel infringed upon by overreach or 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-naked on top of bus stops. It’s refreshing and beyond inspiring to witness this type of manifested unity in humanity. You could say this is where the idea was born.
Touring behind Mutiny is something we greatly look forward to. Something we will cherish. Just as I have come to see and harness my own neurodivergence and the weaponized autism of our collective members as a superpower in the studio—the same is true live. We’re going to play arenas and theaters with a vengeance. No opening act. We’re going to take every minute the venue gives us. We’re gonna rock this Mutiny as hard as humanly possible. It is our privilege and our honor because our fans deserve it.
Beyond the static, the only things that truly matter are the sounds we make and the ears that absorb them. Everything won’t 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’re left with real ones.
The real ones are for life…
After over a decade of navigating and charting the depressions of this industry’s cold and salty trenches, I have found my true North. I wake up every day with the sole intention of doing my best at what I’m best at… simply being a pirate. And by now everybody knows our crew runs the tightest and deadliest ship on the water. This band has less than zero interest in accolade’s, trophy’s, or being the definitive this or that of our generation. We’re in search of something far more meaningful and rewarding—and we’re collecting heads for the journey.
With that all said, to any and all who see our flag flying off your stern, know this…
There will be no quarter nor mercy offered nor given.
JBS

Johnny Blue Skies/Sturgill Simpson — “It Ain’t All Flowers”, “Best Clockmaker On Mars”, “Crying” (Roy Orbison), “Right Kind Of Dream” — Santa Barbara, CA — 9/15/24

[Video: Beth Boylan]