It’s officially Mutiny After Midnight release day.
No, the album hasn’t popped back up on online. Some fans of the artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson were hoping that Johnny Blue Skies would return the full album back to YouTube after – in what could be one of the more unique and inventive ways to share an album – JBS leaked his own album… then took it away.
Thus, forcing fans who really liked it to rush to stores to get themselves a physical copy.
Originally, fans of Sturgill Simpson and Johnny Blue Skies were patiently waiting for Mutiny After Midnight to release today – March 13. Not only that, they were preparing to listen via physical media, as the original announcement of the album said that fans would only be able to get their hands on vinyl, cassette and CDs – A.K.A. no digital or streaming option.
So it was certainly a surprise when it appeared in its entirety on YouTube, but in the latest post from Johnny Blue Skies, he explained why they decided to do that while also thanking fans for their support:
“Thank you very much to everyone for joining in on all the fun and being such good sports over the past few weeks. We made this record with a sense of immediacy and in the moment expression with the pure intention of simply having fun and making people forget about everything else, even if for only 44 minutes. Thank you to everyone that ‘gets it’ and to all the writers for the kind words and love.
We had originally planned a physical only release for at least the first 4 to 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… the almost mystical bond and stems from holding a new piece of artistic expression in your hands while hearing it for the first time.
There were some hiccups (and some opportunists) thus some in the moment adjustments that only led to more fun and chaos. Personally, I’m just here for the chaos. Plus I’ve always really wanted to leak my own record.”
Translation: they released the album physically in a limited capacity, and it started popping up online afterwards… so the JBS team just got ahead of it and shared Mutiny After Midnight themselves (before taking it down about a week ago).
Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies went on to say that this little experiment with his latest project has led to the most successful first week of any album of his career. No interviews, performances, or marketing needed. Just pure, unadulterated pirate chaos.
And though there’s still a push to get people to buy physical media, JBS says that Mutiny After Midnight will eventually stream at some point… and even encouraged fans to stream it illegally until then:
“I can assure you, if nothing else, there are meetings taking place right now throughout the music industry amongst those who pray to formula currently discussing and analyzing the fact that without interviews, tv performances, singles, music videos, or an ounce of “marketing” outside a steady steam of stupid ass memes, we have already had what those that follow charts refer to as the biggest ‘first week”’of any album in my entire career… and ‘first week’ technically just started today.
We’ll probably put it on iTunes at some point. We’ll probably stream it (with bonus tracks) at some point. But the album is out in stores today. Go buy a physical copy… or don’t. Stream it illegally… or don’t. But as your attorney, I advise you to put the phone down, get out of the house, and go grab a copy and find a place to crank it with some friends or even strangers… you might even get laid. It’s all the same fucking day man… so don’t let the bastards get ya down.”
The Dread Pirate Johnny Blue Skies did it again.
As Sturgill said himself, Mutiny After Midnight is officially out right now. If you want to listen to it, you’ll have to go out and get your hands on a physical copy. If you are willing to wait for the digital version… you’ll be rewarded with a couple of “bonus songs.” Sounds like a win-win for everyone… and a huge win for Johnny Blue Skies and the Dark Clouds.
