Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury (2019)

Directed by: Michael Arias, Masayuki Matsumoto, Jumpei Mizusaki, Koji Morimoto, Elsa Nakamichi, Henry Thurlow | 41 minutes | animation

balls. Correction: Sturgill Simpson has giant balls. The once-celebrated neo-country star has the guts to step out of his comfort zone and embrace a whole new sound – and genre. ‘Sound & Fury’ is a big middle finger to genre purists. This album consists of sweaty rock stompers with a country sauce, psychedelic space rock and melancholy ballads with a metal edge.

It is difficult to put a stamp on this music and that is precisely what makes ‘Sound & Fury’ so worthwhile. Because Sturgill tries so hard to innovate, shock and amuse this album hits so hard. This American wants to blow your expectations and knock you down with hard rock music. He succeeds very well, because this disc is well put together. The songs differ enormously from each other and are characterized by their compact playing time. The album is also very fragmented. Tracks end quite abruptly. The tone of the next song doesn’t match that well. It turns out to be a conscious choice. ‘Sound & Fury’ is more than just an album. It is a film in which the music tells what is happening. As if canning a genre-defying rock album wasn’t remarkable enough for a country star!

Sturgill decided to ask some Japanese animation studios to make short films for his album. Each track has its own mini-movie. Because the input of various animators was requested, this resulted in a remarkable whole. This anime is constantly changing tone. Whatever the music does. This is a so-called visual album. Although the music and lyrics are very good, in combination with the film it doesn’t stick. The visuals and overarching story – something about a warrior wandering in an apocalyptic world – don’t come across well. Made for Netflix, this film looks like a strange, incoherent video clip. The animation can be called downright hit and miss and was clearly a bread project for the participating studios. Movements look wooden and the line work is not very detailed.

Musically, ‘Sound & Fury’ is perfectly fine and a must for adventurous fans of rock and metal. The cinematic part of this project is downright mediocre. The fact is that Simpson shows guts with this project. Unfortunately, having balls is not the same as keeping the ball high.