Rhythms that stay with you, forever

Popular singer-songwriter Paul Simon returns with his first album of original work in five years with Stranger to Stranger. The album picks up pretty much where So Beautiful Or So What left off, with Simon utilising rhythms and instruments that made his groundbreaking Graceland album a multiplatinum success.

Paul Simon

Paul Simon — Stranger to Stranger (Concord)

The legend creates magic with music

Popular singer-songwriter Paul Simon returns with his first album of original work in five years with Stranger to Stranger. The album picks up pretty much where So Beautiful Or So What left off, with Simon utilising rhythms and instruments that made his groundbreaking Graceland album a multiplatinum success. Produced by Simon and his longtime music partner Roy Halee, the album’s spirit is high right from the dark and humorous first two songs, The Werewolf and Wristband. Interestingly, Simon is still infatuated with African rhythms and they form the backbone of many of the songs here. The title track is one of the most successful tracks here, an edgy, elegant number that sees Simon at his creative best ‘I’m just jittery/ It’s just a way of dealing with my joy’. He expresses his impatience with discrimination, a world divided between those who have and those who don’t on the enticing Wristband: ‘If you don’t have a wristband, you don’t get through the door’. By collaborating with Italian underground electronic producer, Clap! Clap! On Street Angel, The Werewolf, and Wristband, Simon has truly set the bar high for innovation in a genre that seems to be missing this feature. Lead single, Cool Papa Bell!, is a bit of a snapshot of 1980s Paul Simon. The more traditional Simon and Garfunkel-styled pieces shine through some tracks, radiating confident acoustic strides alongside Simon’s angelic vocals. On most of the album, Simon is far more interested in emphasising his playful side. ‘The winners, the grinners, with money-coloured eyes,’ he sings on The Werewolf. Thirty years after Graceland introduced a folk hero, 74-year-old Paul Simon still remains a class act on the move.

Best track: Street Angel

Worst track: In a Parade

Rating: *****

Steve Gunn — Eyes on the Lines (Matador)

When notes evoke memories

Brooklyn’s folk-rocker Steve Gunn is a prolific musician, who has released 13 albums since 2007, some with Kurt Vile and Hiss Golden Messenger, others, solo records such as 2013’s acclaimed Way Out Weather. The latest outing by Gunn is a nine-track album titled Eyes on the Lines that follows him on a voyage. The album is both adventurous and explorative. The rich guitar solos and consistent rhythms lead the listeners to a dreamy destination. A thread of psychedelic weaves through each track on the album and digs deep into Gunn’s mind-bending guitar mastery. Throughout the collection, Gunn presents exceptional guitar work, seamlessly continuing from where his 2014 album Way out Weather signed off. Sun-soaked ‘Ancient Jules’ introduces Eyes on the Lines, setting the tone for the remainder of the album. The riffs build on top of each other, creating a gripping mix of sound that only draws us in further. Songs like Full Moon Tide and Park Bench Smile may shine bright here, but the real gems on the album are the middle-tempo, middle-range tunes. In The Drop, he sings, ‘I think I missed my flight/ Looks like I’ll spend the night,’ and sounds pretty pleased about it. Night Wander commences with a guitar riff, which is balanced by a skillful drum line, running calmly to counter the guitar sounds like opposing currents. Closing track Arc is a beautiful tranquiliser with heavy emphasis on the drums and Gunn’s dreamlike vocals. On lead single Conditions Wild, Gunn sums up the album’s mission statement in one flow: ‘When you read between the lines,’ he sings, ‘the space will be untied.’

Best track: Ancient Jules

Worst track: Heavy Sails

Rating: ***

Neko Case — Case/Lang/Veirs (Anti)

the talent of three powerhouses

Supergroups are a terrific idea, but very few bands are truly memorable. Replete with the influences of their individual ventures, Case/Lang/Veirs is a product of over two years of writing and an endeavour to create a collaborative album. The results are heartfelt and stellar. Starting with orchestral opener Atomic Number, the trio in this compliments each other’s vocals. ‘I’m not the freckled man / I’m not the fair-haired girl / I’m not a pan of milk for you to spoil,’ the women sing, building off one another’s vocals, before joining in harmony for the chorus. Lang takes the lead on the pleasant Blue Fires, which is reflective of her early music background. The cello on Case’s Down I-5 creates magic to match her world-weary tale, and the mix of percussions on Greens of June render the song an eerie and a delicate effect. I Want to Be Here is perhaps the best example of a deceptively simple folk ballad. The rougher Delirium marks a phenomenal break in the pattern with its heavy electric guitar and 1960s-inspired organ. Best Kept Secret is an all out indie alt-country, reciting the story of a person who was going to ‘Teach guitar to half the kids across LA’ and now they are the ‘best kept secret in Silver Lake.’ The most poignant moment of the album comes in the form of Why Do We Fight?, where piano and a low hum of strings form an emotional backdrop, as Lang ponders the aching mysteries of attraction: ‘Can a love make me so cruel, to lose my faith and lose my heart?’ On Song for Judee, Veirs sings about the life of troubled 1970s singer Judee Sill. At an age where artists have been collaborating with often disappointing results, it’s refreshing to hear these three exceptional singers come up with something so original.

Best track: Blue Fires

Worst track: Georgia Stars

Rating: ****

Mogwai — Atomic (Temporary Residence)

Thoughtfully conceived, carefully executed

Founded in 1995 in Glasgow, Scotland, Mogwai comprises of Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, Martin Bullock and Barry Burns. The band is known for producing some of the finest emotional roller-coasters in the post-rock universe. Theoretically, Atomic is a soundtrack of reworked selections from the BBC’s documentary Storyville-Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise, however, like the band’s previous soundtrack works, the music is brawny enough to have its own identity. Mogwai are longtime supporters of nuclear disarmament, so there is little surprise that they would be examining the subject in their tracks. Opening track, Ether, is about unusual notes produced from an electronic tone and string buzz, which continues until the song’s halfway mark when Mogwai switch to a more traditional approach. The majority of the album distances itself from rock and sticks to a breed of new-wave. Though their classic post-rock guitar layers offer some nice moments in Scram, the band refrains from their conventional style in order to craft novel melodies. There’s a lot more flavour to the album heard in the eerie U-235, the colorful synth layered instrumentatal in Little Boy, and most impressively, the coarse layers in Pripyat that create an opaque post-rock brew to a satisfying result. Tzar is hypnotic as it weaves a spellbinding sense of uplift. The final track, Fat Man refers to the name given to the bomb that demolished Nagasaki. The song is aptly filled with poignancy and midway opens up to an even wider sound-scape. Atomic is both a breathtaking, contemporary exploration, and a heartwarming tribute to an often neglected area of music history.

Best track: Pripyat

Worst track: Bitterness Centrifuge

Rating:***

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Panda............................................................Desiigner (FD)

Cheap Thrills....................................Sia feat. Sean Paul (CU)

Needed Me.......................................................Rihanna (FD)

Ride...................................................Twenty One Pilots (CU)

Send My Love To Your New Lover..........................Adele (CU)