Artist: Paul Simon

Album: ‘So Beautiful or So What’

Record Label: Hear Music

Soundwaves: 4/5

Sounds Like: B-sides to Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’

Paul Simon needs no introduction. After a successful career as one-half of pop music’s greatest duo with Art Garfunkel, Simon went on to cement his legacy with a vibrant solo career. Though not on par with the African-inspired jaunty pop ramblings of ‘Graceland’or the samba-tinged Latin-American sonic vacation that was ‘The Rhythm of the Saints,’ Simon’s latest effort, ‘So Beautiful or So What,’ is still a worthy successor to an already impressive discography.

And Simon is still crazy after all these years. Even with an April release date, the leadoff track is unconventionally called ‘Getting Ready For ChristmasDay.’ Although the name and lyrical matter may throw off some listeners, it’s Simon at his best. Softly strumming a breezy acoustic guitar riff, Simon’s vocals are light and carefree, his soft-spoken verses accentuated with an unorthodox chorus mashed together from a 1941 Christmas Day sermon.

‘The Afterlife’ highlights Simon’s ear for crafting instrumental pieces with the unlikeliest of instrumental pairings, balancing his dry wit with African guitar licks. Simon’s cleverly poignant lyricism is still as sharp as ever, as the song is a mellow pop narrative about someone heading up to heaven, waiting in line and filling out paperwork. Hethen explains his life in a series of classic rock gibberish. (Simon sings, ‘But all that remains when you try to explain is a fragment of song, Lord, is it bebop-a -lula? Or ooh-papa-doo?’) ‘The Afterlife’ captures the spirit of a sunny spring day in less than four minutes.

‘Dazzling Blue’ features some African scat-singing, tribal drumbeats and ‘Rhymin’ Simon’s’ trademark flowing lyrics, which leap into the frolicking, Latin-influenced ‘Rewrite,’ a bouncy tune. Its soft-spun guitar solo sounds stuck in the middle of a summer night lullaby.

The album segues into ballad territory with the soothingly plucky acoustic guitar and Simon’s airy vocals on ‘Love and Hard Times.’ The second act of Simon’s love-song smattered album is ‘Love is Eternal Sacred Light,’ an electronic-heavy track accompanied by strange effects that seem out of place on such an organic album. The song rambles for four minutes with no real rhyme or reason.

‘Amulet,’ a heartfelt arrangement of guitar melodies,has a characteristically spicy South American flavor that serves as an interlude to the mournful pace of ‘Questions For the Angels,’ a low-quality song that sounds ripped from a cassette tape. It’s surprisingly hopeful, despite its heartstring-tugging lyrical content, but drags on, leaving the listener to wonder whether the album is front loaded.

If the first half of the album is meant for sunny days and clear, breezy nights, the last half is meant to be a soundtrack for rainy mornings and cloudy evenings. ‘Love and Blessings’ begins with a mournful melody that comes across as a funeral hymn, and inexplicably turns into a campfire-style sing-along in its middle before returning to its sleepy stupor.

Luckily, Simon highlights his quirky pop-song writing chops with the title track ‘So Beautiful or So What,’ which definitely leans closer to ‘so beautiful’ than ‘so what.’ A staccato guitar line drives the song and stands out among a variety of different sounds, including sparsely used female backing vocals and traditional flute chords. The album ends with a live version of ‘Peace Like a River,’ a bluesy tune with some charismatically soaring vocals from Simon that reach their acme with some soulful falsetto runs.

There’s a good reason why Simon has a seat in the pantheon of the best singer-songwriters to have ever strummed a guitar. And ‘So Beautiful or So What’ prove she can still write meaningful songs for the current generation.

ervanrhe@syr.edu

Published on April 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman