| Stranger to Stranger | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 3, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | Spring/Summer 2011 – April 2016 | |||
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| Genre | Pop,[1]experimental[2] | |||
| Length | 36:50 (standard edition) 53:24 (deluxe edition)[3][4] | |||
| Label | Concord | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Paul Simon chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Stranger to Stranger | ||||
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Stranger to Stranger is the thirteenth solostudio album by Americanfolk rock singer-songwriterPaul Simon. Produced by Paul Simon andRoy Halee, it was released on June 3, 2016 throughConcord Records.[5] Simon wrote the material over a period of several years, perfecting it and rewriting it to his liking. Its music is experimental, making use of custom-made instruments by composer and music theoristHarry Partch. Three of the songs on the album are collaborations with Italianelectronic artistClap! Clap!.
His first release in over five years,[6]Stranger to Stranger received wide critical acclaim. It represented Simon's highest-ever debut on theBillboard 200, at No. 3, and reached No. 1 on theUK Albums Chart.
The cover art is a detail of a portrait of Simon from 2011 byChuck Close. Photo by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Gallery.[7][8]
Simon began writing new material shortly after releasing his twelfth studio album,So Beautiful or So What, in April 2011. Simon collaborates with the Italianelectronic dance music artistClap! Clap! on three songs—"The Werewolf", "Street Angel", and "Wristband". Simon was introduced to him by his son, Adrian, who was a fan of his work. The two met up in July 2011 when Simon was touring behindSo Beautiful or So What inMilan,Italy.[2] He andClap! Clap! worked together via email over the course of making the album. Simon also worked with longtime friendRoy Halee, who is listed as co-producer on the album. Halee, who had retired years earlier, was mostly recruited to advise on how to create natural echo. He was unfamiliar withPro Tools, so Simon helped him with it. "I always liked working with him more than anyone else," Simon noted.[2]
Andy Greene ofRolling Stone dubbedStranger to Stranger an "experimental album heavy on echo and rhythm that fuses electronic beats with Africanwoodwind instruments, Peruvian drums, agospel music quartet,horns andsynthesizers."[2] The album makes use of custom-made instruments, such as theCloud-Chamber Bowls and theChromelodeon, which were created by music theoristHarry Partch in the mid-twentieth century. Simon briefly moved the sessions toMontclair State University, where the instruments are stored, in 2013 in order to employ them on the album. "Parch said there were 43 tones to an octave and not 12," Simon remarked inRolling Stone. "He had a totally different approach to what music is and had to build his own instruments so he could compose on amicrotonal scale. That microtonal thinking pervades this album."[2]
"The Werewolf" centers around a werewolf, also an angel of death, who is looking for victims. The song's origins came from Simon and his band experimenting with slowing down thetempo of a recording they made of the Peruvian percussion instrumentCajón, the Indian instrumentgopichand, and hand claps.[2] "Wristband" creates a narrative around a rock musician unable to gain entry into his own concert because he lacks the wristband required. "The Riverbank" was inspired by a teacher that Simon personally knew who was killed in theSandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012. It also takes root in a visit Simon made to wounded veterans atWalter Reed Hospital.[2] "Proof of Love" and "In the Garden of Edie", meanwhile, stand as tributes to Simon's wife, musicianEdie Brickell. The album also has continuity, with characters reappearing in songs. "The idea of finishing one song and having the character appear in another song appeals to me. I don't see why characters shouldn't appear more than once," said Simon. The instrumentals "The Clock" and "In the Garden of Edie" function asinterludes, designed to give listeners "space." The two tracks were originally composed for John Patrick Shanley's playProdigal Son, but went unused.[2]
Stranger to Stranger was first announced when Simon announced his tour dates in February 2016.[9] It was officially announced with the lead single "Wristband" premiering online on April 7, 2016.[10]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.9/10[11] |
| Metacritic | 85/100[12] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[14] |
| The Guardian | [15] |
| The Independent | [16] |
| The Irish Times | [17] |
| Pitchfork | 7.2/10[18] |
| Rolling Stone | [19] |
| Spin | 6/10[20] |
| USA Today | [21] |
| Vice | A−[22] |
Stranger to Stranger received widespread critical acclaim. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 25 reviews.[12] InRolling Stone,Will Hermes said it was "as inviting, immaculately produced, jokey and unsettled a record as any he has ever made",[19] whileThe Guardian's Jon Dennis found the album "as rewarding as anything" Simon had recorded before, showcasing a "tenacious pursuit of new sounds".[15] Jonathan Bernstein ofEntertainment Weekly calledStranger to Stranger "one of his very boldest collections to date", an album "brimming with concepts and sounds that push Simon’s musical boundaries further than ever".[14]
Randy Lewis from theLos Angeles Times believed the record was "pop music at its most artful and relevant, a sentiment from a septuagenarian representative of rock’s old guard that's arguably as potent as anything from seemingly more streetwise artists one-third his age".[1]The Independent's Andy Gill hailed it as Simon's "best in several years",[16] and Steve Smith ofThe Boston Globe considered it his "richest, most instantly appealing collection sinceGraceland (1986)".[23] Dan Weiss was somewhat less impressed inSpin, lamenting the music's "novelty electronics", which he said "make everything feel sillier than it is (not inherently a bad thing), but they also fail to get into a groove (which is)".[20]
| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard | 10 Best Rock/Alternative Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 7 | |
| Entertainment Weekly | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 23 | |
| Mojo | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 8 | |
| Paste | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 46 | |
| Rolling Stone | 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 13 |
The album debuted at No. 1 on theUK Albums Chart, selling 19,218 copies in its first week. At the age of 74, Paul Simon was the oldest male solo artist to chart at No. 1 in the UK. It is his first No. 1 studio album since 1990'sThe Rhythm of the Saints.[29] In the United States,Stranger to Stranger debuted at No. 3 on theBillboard 200 with first-week sales of 68,000 units. The album was the overallbest-selling album for the week based on pure album sales (67,000 copies). It is Simon's highest charting album in over 29 years, sinceGraceland (1986).[30][31]
All tracks are written byPaul Simon.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Werewolf" | 3:25 |
| 2. | "Wristband" | 3:17 |
| 3. | "The Clock" | 1:02 |
| 4. | "Street Angel" | 2:11 |
| 5. | "Stranger to Stranger" | 4:35 |
| 6. | "In a Parade" | 2:21 |
| 7. | "Proof of Love" | 5:44 |
| 8. | "In the Garden of Edie" | 1:48 |
| 9. | "The Riverbank" | 4:11 |
| 10. | "Cool Papa Bell" | 4:02 |
| 11. | "Insomniac's Lullaby" | 4:33 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Horace and Pete" | 2:30 | |
| 13. | "Duncan" (live fromA Prairie Home Companion February 2016) | 4:43 | |
| 14. | "Wristband" (live fromA Prairie Home Companion) | 3:28 | |
| 15. | "Guitar Piece 3" | 1:10 | |
| 16. | "New York Is My Home" (withDion) |
| 4:30 |
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
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Release date: June 3, 2016
