sturgill-simpson-celebrates-one-year-anniversary-his-anime-movie-premiere

Sturgill Simpson Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of His Anime Movie Premiere

If you didn’t know, Sturgill Simpson is a lot more than just a country artist.

In fact, today he is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the release of “Sound and Fury.”

“Exactly one year ago today I was at a giant movie theater in the Roppongi district of Tokyo celebrating the Japanese premier of ‘Sound and Fury’ with the entire team of animators and producers that worked on the film. This is my very dear friend and producer @ottieshun Shunsuke Ochiai..more than anyone he is directly responsible for helping me turn what began as a crazy idea in a van on the way to a gig into reality,” Simpson posted on his Instagram.

Simpson Releases ‘Sound & Fury’

“Sound & Fury” is the name of the fourth studio album created by Simpson and released by Elektra Records in 2019.

The release of the film was closely followed by the dystopian anime film called “Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound and Fury.” The movie was written and produced by Kamikaze Douga.

The album signified his transition into hard rock, psychedelic, blues, and funk-style music. He has departed from a lot of his traditional country music, similar to many other artists in the past. His album was the first ever to be nominated for both a Best Rock Album and a Best Country Album at the Grammys.

The original anime premiered on Netflix. Not only has Simpson departed from a seemingly traditional country path, but he has also broken ground on releasing an anime with his album. It is a unique decision that has never been done before.

The film explores Simpson’s heavy guitar riffs and rock voice through a whole other world. It features a cyberpunk samurai that is trying to overrule a corporate empire. The music works in tandem with the story, unlike a traditional music video. It is also a way of exploring more of the album than just one song at a time.

Critics were also a big fan of the choice to create this marriage of music and streaming platforms.

“But there’s an unmistakable spirit that weaves its way through ‘Sound and Fury’ that not only exists as a unique addition to a programming library; it holds your attention throughout its booming runtime. As Netflix continues to search for a leg up in the soon-to-bubble-over streaming battles, marriages of music and visuals like this aren’t a bad place to look,” according to Indie Wire.

Sturgill Simpson Hard At Work

He didn’t stop with the anime film, either. Simpson also created a graphic novel to go along with “Sound & Fury.” The book is 144 pages long and was written with Jason Aaron. It is meant to serve as a prequel to the album.

Simpson has managed to tap into a whole other audience of the graphic novel and anime lovers in the exploration to share and display his music in new ways.

Recently, Sturgill Simpson has been creating content left and right. He just released the second part of his last album. It is titled “Cuttin’ Grass, Vol.2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions.”

These songs are a reinterpretation of older work through a bluegrass lens. The newest album includes Merle Haggard on “Hobo Cartoon.”

According to NPR, the album has an all-star lineup of musicians he considers the “Hillbilly Avengers.”

Simpson said that the second volume is an exploration of what he was afraid to do in the first. However, clearly, Simpson is not afraid to take risks and think “outside of the box.”