What does it sound like?:
This is an extraordinary record in so many ways. Consisting of 7 pieces – I hesitate to call them songs because they don’t really fit that category – linked together as one suite (there is only one track on the CD and, I believe, on the LP), this record demands to be listened to completely. It is like nothing else I’ve ever heard, although there are odd echoes in the guitar phrases that recall early Paul Simon compositions. As one might suspect, this is a meditation on his stage in life and, me not being that far behind, it resonates with this listener in sometimes quite disturbing ways. It is not an ‘easy’ listen – not only because of the words ( again I hesitate to refer to them as lyrics as that seems inadequate) but the music weaves in unexpected turns and rhythms to serve those words and present them to the listener in a way that can’t be ignored. Paul’s voice has also aged which enhances the subject matter.
I only got this today, so will be spending a long time absorbing it and playing this a lot in the coming days. I am only a couple of listens in, but this is already my album of the year I suspect.
What does it all *mean*?
A late career masterpiece…? Very probably.
Goes well with…
Nothing…just sitting and listening doing nothing else.
Release Date:
19th May 2023
Might suit people who like…
The great singer/songwriters.
Interesting. Am guessing this could be a marmite album. Thanks
Yes @Dai, not for everyone I suspect. Will be interesting to hear opinions.
A very intriguing review @NigelT.
I’ve heard some of the album and I like what I’ve heard. I never thought we’d here anything new from the former T&JHM but we all know what thought did…
It being Paul Simon I have to have the CD & LP (don’t ask me why).
‘hear’ not ‘here’
Looking forward to hearing this when it lands on my doorstep. Personally I think he is a genius and the only album he did that I couldn’t get on with was the Capeman.
By a strange coincidence I realised I didn’t have the Paul Simon Songbook album and ordered it from Discogs – it arrived yesterday. Will be interesting to hear them back to back.
Five stars in The Times today
“Seven Psalms ends, fittingly, with acceptance of life’s finite nature. “Heaven is beautiful. It’s almost like home,” reassures Brickell in ethereal tones on Wait, as Simon hopes for a dreamless transition into the beyond. Simon & Garfunkel taught a generation how to deal with a postwar world that made little sense to them, and now Simon is teaching that same generation how to face up to the end. It is a remarkable album. “
Such guff
Yup
Too many words?
🙄 one off the cuff comment many years ago but tiresomely he wouldn’t let it lie.
“I’ve been thinking about the great migration”
He sure has. A stunning contemplation on mortality.
Just listening to it just now. Initial impressions very good, and I like the fact it is only a shade over 30 minutes long – like something from the good old days before every album was 70+ minutes and full of filler!
He still has his voice, doesn’t he?
First track sounds a bit like Anji.
Actually, I really like this. Reminds me a bit of Bookends.
This is seriously good. It’s got its hooks right in me today. That’s me listened to it three times now. The best thing he’s done since Rhythm of the Saints.
I’ve listened to it three times too, and it is fabulous.
I love how “dry” it sounds, in a production sense. It’s almost cheap sounding in a way: a minimum of studio effects and a raw, unadorned feel. You are in no doubt that’s his fingers squeaking across the guitar fretboard.
I’m struggling. Two and a half listens and it’s all a bit “Meaningful Arty”. Mr Simon may well be the Best Songwriter Ever and I may well be Wrong (whodathunk?) but so far a case of Emperor’s New Clothes for me.
This most probably means I’ll have it as my No1 in the EoY Poll
I’m with Lody – only had one listen and I’ve not been drawn back for another although I will, hes too good an artist to dismiss so lightly. But there were very few melodies of note and it was all a bit too ‘deep
And meaningful’ lyrically although of course there were some beautiful lines and imagery. The Anji reference has been mentioned in a few reviews and I wonder if it might be deliberate – some kind of contrast between the young aspiring artist of the early 60s to the melancholic thoughts of a man at the end or near end of his career?
A copyright legal challenge from the estate of Davy Graham would be an interesting court case! I wonder who they would call as witnesses?
An excuse to post this again – one of the greatest rock-based comedy sketches of all time!
Interesting:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/13/the-most-fun-paul-simon-unveils-collaboration-with-the-boy-the-mole-the-fox-and-the-horse-illustrator
Intriguing review… I will explore