{"id":141002,"date":"2023-08-16T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=141002"},"modified":"2023-08-15T10:11:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T17:11:38","slug":"review-paul-simon-seven-psalms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/review-paul-simon-seven-psalms\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Paul Simon Meditates on Faith and Spotlights His Guitar on \u2018Seven Psalms\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in 2016, Paul Simon mused in an NPR interview about stepping away from songwriting\u2014to experience for the first time in 60 years what it feels like not<\/em> to write songs. And then, in 2018, he wrapped up what was billed as his farewell tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if Simon appeared to be hanging up his hat as a singer-songwriter, the muse was apparently not done with him. In January 2019, by his account, he had a dream announcing that he was working on a piece called Seven Psalms<\/a><\/em>. Intrigued, he wrote down the phrase, and on subsequent nights found himself waking in the pre-dawn hours with additional words. Always a believer in chasing inspiration without necessarily understanding its source or meaning, Simon followed the dream instruction\u2014and now we have the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"paul-simon-seven-psalms-cover\"<\/a>
Paul Simon, Seven Psalms<\/a> (Owl Records\/Legacy Recordings)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s remarkable to say that even after all these decades of exploring all sorts of sonic and stylistic terrain, from Simon and Garfunkel\u2019s Sounds of Silence<\/a><\/em> and Bridge Over Troubled Water<\/a><\/em> to the solo landmarks Still Crazy After All These Years<\/a>, Graceland<\/a>, <\/em>and The Rhythm of the Saints<\/a>, <\/em>up through more recent gems like So Beautiful or So What<\/a> <\/em>and Stranger to Stranger<\/a>,<\/em> Seven Psalms<\/a> <\/em>is unlike any other Paul Simon creation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one thing, the album is a single composition in seven movements\u201433 minutes formatted as one track. It\u2019s also nearly a solo spotlight, focused throughout on Simon\u2019s voice and acoustic guitar\u2014primarily a Gurian that has been a longstanding favorite. His fingerstyle guitar arrangements on the album, gorgeously captured by engineer and co-producer Kyle Crusham, are so detailed and melodic they could nearly stand as instrumental pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n