Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson) & the Dark Clouds, photo by Edwin Keeble

In March, Sturgill Simpson logged another radical departure in a long career of pivots with Mutiny After Midnight, his second album as Johnny Blue Skies, now joined in the studio by his road-hardened Dark Clouds band. The alt-country firebrand’s sophomore album under his new moniker was available only on physical formats (save for a temporary YouTube upload), but to celebrate his birthday, the artist finally released the highly acclaimed project on digital streaming platforms.

On top of the initial tracklist, Simpson extended the digital edition with three new covers collected from the cutting-room floor, ornamenting the discofied country-funk cycle with covers of William Bell’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” and Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” all three of which are thoroughly honed concert staples. Those eclectic selections fit the album’s live focus and fusion sound, cohering in the slick boot-scooting grooves inspired by ‘70s fusion supergroup Stuff, Marvin Gaye’s In Our Lifetime and other fixations the band latched to while touring behind Simpson’s last album. That sonic indulgence serves the higher purpose of spurring a joyful rebellion, dressing up sharp social commentary in “pure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism.”

Digital was always in the cards. “I’ve always really wanted to leak my own record,” Simpson expressed in a post to his Instagram story in March, detailing his plans for “a physical only release for at least the first 4-6 weeks to support and show solidarity with independent record shops and to promote an increasingly bygone physical and tangible connection between music and music fans.”

Listen to Mutiny After Midnight below.