Seven Psalms
Conceived of in a dream and sketched out during a series of pre-dawn sessions before the talons of logic took hold, *Seven Psalms* is a frankly mysterious album that nevertheless finds its way back to the same thematic wells Simon has drawn on for more than 50 years: loneliness (“Trail of Volcanoes”), aging (“Wait”), the existential questions of ordinary people (“The Sacred Harp”), and the sense of humor that keeps them gently at bay (“My Professional Opinion”). With an arsenal of rustling percussion and eerily resonant bells to back up a lone acoustic guitar, he plays the role of the solitary man haunted by a history of voices. And while the music is rarely catchy (at least for someone who wrote “Cecilia”), it continually refers back to itself with a subtle magic that honors the places from which it came. He’s always played it close to the vest; here, he’s deep inside it.
The veteran songwriter contemplates faith on a quiet, ambitious 33-minute suite. It becomes more surreal—and even funny—the deeper into it you get.
Seven Psalms comes into focus softly and slowly, with Paul Simon's circular acoustic guitar figure repeating like a benediction.
The veteran singer-songwriter ponders faith and mortality in seven beautiful, impressionistic movements
'Seven Psalms' is Paul Simon's 15th solo album and in it, he confronts his mortality head-on and wonders about God, the reasons for existence, and death.
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