In the modern era of music discourse where the barrier to entry for any given record is lower than it’s even been, it’s quite natural to question the purpose of an album review: why listen to someone else’s opinion when you can form your own? Even if you’d agree with that line of thinking, it’s not one you can apply to the newest work from up-and-coming country star Sturgill Simpson. Released under the same ‘Johnny Blue Skies’ moniker as 2024’s ‘Passage Du Desir,’ ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ is only available physically— trust us when we say that the album’s groovy disco jams are worth the investment.

As you’ve probably surmised from its mirror ball artwork and striking neon colour palate, ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ strays pretty far from the country music that Simpson is known for: the artist is known for his excursions into various new genres, but the full-blown disco extravaganza on display here may just be his most audacious to date. The record is bright and flavourful in every moment, whipping itself up into the perfect soundtrack for a lyrical exploration of hedonism in the face of tragedy. Right from opener ‘Make America F*k Again,’ Blue Skies’ opinion on the current Trump  administration is clear to see— what seems less clear, though, is whether the band truly believe in the care-free, nihilistic perspective they present here, or whether the whole thing is just one big middle-finger to the social elite. Regardless, Simpson uses this simple framing to transform the sexual and romantic musings on cuts like ‘Situation,’ ‘Venus’ and ‘Viridescent’ into political statements, perhaps even without you realising it. It’s not until the closing track that the cards are laid plainly on the table.

“But the loving is gone

It ain't that time of the season

How the hell are all these guys

Not in jail for treason?

The poor stay poor and the rich get rich

Nothing ever changes: man, ain't that a b*tch”

If the Dark Clouds want to party their troubles away, they’d better have some gnarly tunes in tow: you can bet your ass that ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ delivers. This is the group’s first time diving into disco music, and you can more-or-less tell, not only because the band play things rather safe within the confines of the genre, but because the album doesn’t quite nail things from the off. ‘Make American F*k Again’ does an excellent job setting up the excessive cheer and charm that Simpson will force down your throat for forty-odd minutes, but in this particular instance, the sweetness is almost a little sickly— the song is great, don’t get us wrong, but it’s also somewhat whiplash-inducing. ‘Excited Delirium’ is similarly intense, amping up the tempo for a cut that feels pulled straight from the Wacky Races soundtrack. This two-minute escapade sits somewhat awkwardly alongside the more mellow ‘Don’t Let Go,’ which is far more of a familiar sound for the Dark Clouds. The driving energy of the former and the romantic crooning of the latter are both endearing in their own rights: front to back though, ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ doesn’t quite establish its own identity until ‘Stay On That.’

From then on, though, Johnny Blue Skies will have you by the balls— this is an album that only gets better with each track, like you can hear the band gradually settling into the sound. ‘Stay On That’ is an absurd cut about sleeping your way to the top, and it’s a concept that only a group this comically likeable could pull off: even if the following ‘Viridescent’ is more honest and humble in its theming, you still get the impression that it was made by a group of guys who’d use the word ‘balderdash’ unironically. ‘Situation’ acts as the album’s only single (it’s the only song here freely available on YouTube) and it’s a darn good one, marching along on the back of some crunchy drum grooves from Easy Luvin: the track’s tempo increase and key switches could go on for another ten minutes and you wouldn’t have heard a single complaint from us. Really though, the standouts are saved for the end. ‘Venus’ is a smooth love song that makes groove the name of the game, letting Black Daddy’s infectious bass lines run rampant through your speakers. As for closer ‘Ain’t That A B*tch,’ it’s easy to forget about the song’s potent political commentary when its harmonised guitar leads and laidback moods are this catchy and fun.

If the news is getting you down, ‘Mutiny After Midnight’ is probably the cure. When it comes to a figure as enigmatic as Sturgill Simpson, it’s easy to overthink things— who do the devil and the skeleton in the band’s logo represent, for one— but to do so would go against the very message the Dark Clouds are running with here. This is a funky disco jam that spits in the face of all that is wrong with the world: whether you agree with its hedonistic message or not, you can’t deny how much the record makes you want to dance.