Somehow or other I missed that Paul Simon had released a new album two months ago. It's a suite, with seven songs run together, so my Ukrainian site was selling downloads as a single track for $0.16. Couldn't pass that up.
Paul's voice is basically gone, at age 81. He's got two notes he can hit pretty reliably, so all the songs are two-note melodies. When he tries for the occasional note above or below his narrowed range, they're extremely wavery, like Kate Hepburn.
His song-writing is similar diminished; lots of repeating phrases and nothing in the way of evocative phrases.
The backing is mostly acoustic guitar, with very sparse bass, percussion or flute. Makes the album seem like a demo, or a meditation.
In short, sixteen cents is about what it's worth. His last full album, 2011's "So Beautiful Or What," was not particularly noteworthy but it at least pretended to be a full production (I'm not counting 2018's "In The Blue Light" because it was mostly remakes of old songs).
I'll be sad to see Paul leave the stage, but it might be time.
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