Passage Du Desir Johnny Blue Skies & Sturgill Simpson

• 1 Swamp of Sadness 04:57
• 2 If The Sun Never Rises Again 04:47
• 3 Scooter Blues 03:37
• 4 Jupiter's Faerie 07:24
• 5 Who I Am 03:06
• 6 Right Kind of Dream 05:17
• 7 Mint Tea 03:37
• 8 One For The Road 08:55
• Total Runtime 41:40

Info for Passage Du Desir

Sturgill Simpson makes his long-awaited return to music this year with an extensive fall tour along with a new album under a new name, Johnny Blue Skies.

After promising to release only five studio albums under his own name, Sturgill Simpson marks the beginning of a new era with Johnny Blue Skies and the release of Passage Du Desir. Released on his own independent label, High Top Mountain Records, the album includes eight songs produced by Johnny Blue Skies and David Ferguson and recorded at Clement House Recording Studio in Nashville, TN and Abbey Road Studios in London, England.

"Gonna hop on my scooter, go down to the store/When people say, 'Are you him?' I'll say, 'Not anymore.'" This passage from "Scooter Blues" isn't the only time Sturgill Simpson sings about leaving his old name and persona behind on Passage du Desir, the first album he's released as Johnny Blue Skies. Simpson adopted Johnny Blue Skies after a vocal cord hemorrhage during the supporting tour for The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, an injury that left the singer without a voice and with a deep depression. A move to Paris revived his spirits, leading to his rebirth as Johnny Blue Skies. The very title of Passage du Desir hints at Simpson's new home, as do the faint continental accordions that usher in the record, but the remarkable thing about this 2024 album is that it in no way feels as if he's running away from his past. There's a cool breeze blowing through Passage du Desir, a mellowness that takes the edge off Simpson's musical wandering. Stylistically, he's as restless as ever, easing himself from plaintive country ballads to supple R&B, offering a blissed-out boogie on "Scooter Blues," and ending the whole affair with "One for the Road," a twilight farewell whose soulful slow burn concludes in Pink Floyd theatrics. Apart from the slight new wave air of "Right Kind of Dream" -- its gleaming neon is equally indebted to yacht country -- there's nothing necessarily unexpected in the twists and turns on Passage du Desir, apart from its vibe. There's no heaviness here, no sense of torment. Even when he's singing about a "Swamp of Sadness" and wondering "If the Sun Never Rises Again," it's clear that Simpson has made his way through the darkness, settling into a place where he's utterly comfortable in his skin and scars." (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Johnny Blue Skies, guitar, vocals
Jake Bugg, additional acoustic guitar
Matt Combs, strings
Dan Dugmore, pedal steel guitar
Fred Eltringham, drums, percussion
Sierra Hull, mandolin, sirens
Steve Mackey, bass
Mike Rojas, keyboards, melodica, accordion

Johnny Blue Skies aks Sturgill Simpson
Born and raised in Jackson, Kentucky as the son of a coal miner, his family has a long history of working in the mines. As the first man in his family not to pursue that same career path, a significant portion of his music is dedicated to the economic devastation that Eastern Kentuckians have faced since the decline of coal mining.

When he finished high school he joined the military, an opportunity that would send him across the world. As his worldview broadened, he decided to leave the military after witnessing the abject poverty in Southeast Asia. Drifting from the Pacific Northwest and then back to Kentucky, he began to take his musical expression more seriously. Integrating generic elements of bluegrass and outlaw country, he made a name for himself by the early 2010s.

Even though his first album would not generate as much critical or commercial attention, his second album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music would enter mainstream country circuits and elevate his name. His career has only gained momentum since then, releasing A Sailor’s Guide to Earth in 2016. In 2019, he released the album Sound and Fury, which carried a companion anime film on Netflix.

In 2020, he released two albums: Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions and Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions to critical and commercial success.

This album contains no booklet.