It’s not every day you come across a country album with a title like Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, or a country album that talks about hallucinogenics and, uh, “reptile aliens made of light.” The music on Sturgill Simpson’s sophomore outing isn’t always as idiosyncratic as its thematic eccentricities might suggest — Simpson’s also been praised for the way his music recalls the outlaw country tradition. Of course, on the other side of things you’ve got the warped psychedelic outro of “It Ain’t All Flowers.” In either case, Simpson brings a whole lot of gravity to his music; he’s one of those guys you just assume has seen some things, especially given the drugs he’s singing about. Bonus points for the fact that Simpson worked up a slow, yearning cover of When In Rome’s “The Promise,” where he plays it quiet until one big, powerful reading of the chorus toward the end, maybe the album’s most beautiful moment. –Ryan [LISTEN]