Length 38:54 Artist Sturgill Simpson Producer Sturgill Simpson | Label Atlantic Release date 15 April 2016 Genre Country | |
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Released April 15, 2016 (2016-04-15) Studio Butcher Shoppe in Nashville Nominations Grammy Award for Album of the Year Similar Metamodern Sounds in Country, Big Day in a Small Town, Louie Vega StarringXXVIII, The Hope Six Demolitio, Barbara Barbara - We Face | ||
Sturgill simpson brace for impact live a little
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, and won Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards; it was also nominated for Album of the Year.
Contents
Sturgill simpson breakers roar
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." 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. 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. 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]." Streaming of the album became available on April 7, 2016, on NPR's official website.
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
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.
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. The album sold a further 13,400 copies in the second week. The album has sold 173,200 copies in the US as of February 2017.
Following his Grammy win, Simpson saw a 346% increase in streaming on Spotify.
Track listing
All tracks written by Sturgill Simpson except "In Bloom", which is written by Kurt Cobain.
Personnel
Songs
1Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)4:53
2Breakers Roar3:33
3Keep It Between the Lines4:01