Sunday, June 5th at 7pm
“Oh! You don’t know me?
O.K. I don’t know you, too”
— “The Werewolf”
For anyone who’s been listening to great music during the past half-century, Paul Simon is certainly no stranger. So one of the most remarkable things about his extraordinary new masterpiece, Stranger to Stranger—Paul Simon’s 13th solo record—is that it conjures a vivid and vital new context to his well-established genius as a singer and songwriter. Full of thrilling textures that feel fresh and modern, while still offering subtle and artful allusions to our shared musical past, Stranger to Stranger presents the perfect opportunity to get to know Paul Simon in a new way.
Stanger to Stranger’s distinctive sonic textures allow the listener to experience Simon’s singular voice with the shock of the new. The album’s visceral and ever-changing musical palette allows us to recall what we have loved about Paul Simon in the past; at the same time we feel passion for this new music that artfully speaks to the good, the bad and the ugly in our jittery world, here and now.
“Sound is the theme of this album as much as it’s about the subjects of the individual songs. If people get that, I’ll be pleased,” explains Simon. “I never say, ‘Now I’ll write a song about mortality, or a song about social inequality,’ or anything, really. So, in a sense, the songs write themselves—they lead; I follow. The right song at the right time can live for generations. A beautiful sound, well that’s forever.”
