Stranger to Stranger

For the album by Industry, see Stranger to Stranger (Industry album).
Stranger to Stranger
Studio album by Paul Simon
Released June 3, 2016
Recorded 2011– April 2016
Studio
Length 36:50 (standard edition) / 53: 24 (deluxe edition) [1] [2]
Label Concord
Producer
Paul Simon chronology
The Ultimate Collection
(2015)		 Stranger to Stranger
(2016)
Singles from Stranger to Stranger
  1. "Wristband"
    Released: April 7, 2016
  2. "Cool Papa Bell"
    Released: April 28, 2016
  3. "The Werewolf"
    Released: May 19, 2016

Stranger to Stranger is the thirteenth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee, it was released on June 3, 2016 through Concord Records.[3] 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 theorist Harry Partch. Three of the songs on the album are collaborations with Italian electronic artist Clap! Clap!.

His first release in over five years,[4] Stranger to Stranger received wide critical acclaim. It represented Simon's highest-ever debut on the Billboard 200, at number three, and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Background

Simon began writing new material shortly after releasing his twelfth studio album, So Beautiful or So What, in April 2011. Simon collaborates with the Italian electronic dance music artist Clap! 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 behind So Beautiful or So What in Milan, Italy.[5] He and Clap! Clap! worked together via email over the course of making the album. Simon also worked with longtime friend Roy 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 with Pro Tools, so Simon helped him with it. "I always liked working with him more than anyone else," Simon noted.[5]

Composition

Andy Greene of Rolling Stone dubbed Stranger to Stranger an "experimental album heavy on echo and rhythm that fuses electronic beats with African woodwind instruments, Peruvian drums, a gospel music quartet, horns and synthesizers."[5] The album makes usage of custom-made instruments, such as the Cloud-Chamber Bowls and the Chromelodeon, which were created by music theorist Harry Partch in the mid-twentieth century. Simon briefly moved the sessions to Montclair 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 in Rolling Stone. "He had a totally different approach to what music is and had to build his own instruments so he could compose on a microtonal scale. That microtonal thinking pervades this album."[5]

"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 the tempo of a recording they made of the Peruvian percussion instrument Cajón, the Indian instrument gopichand, and hand claps.[5] "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 slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012. It also takes root in a visit Simon made to wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital.[5] "Proof of Love" and "In the Garden of Edie", meanwhile, stand as tributes to Simon's wife, musician Edie 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 as interludes, designed to give listeners "space." The two tracks were originally composed for John Patrick Shanley's play Prodigal Son, but went unused.[5]

Release

Stranger to Stranger was first announced when Simon announced his tour dates in February 2016.[6] It was officially announced with the lead single "Wristband" premiering online on April 7, 2016.[7] The cover art for the album taken from a portrait of Simon painted by artist Chuck Close.[8]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 19,218 copies in its first week. At the age of 74 years and eight months, Paul Simon is the oldest male solo artist to chart at number one in the UK. It is his first number-one studio album since The Rhythm of the Saints (1990).[9] In the United States, Stranger to Stranger debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 68,000 units. The album was the overall best-selling album for the week based on pure album sales (67,000 copies). It is Simon's highest charting album in over 29 years, since Graceland (1986).[10][11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[13]
The Guardian[14]
The Independent[15]
The Irish Times[16]
Pitchfork7.2/10[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Spin6/10[19]
USA Today[20]
ViceA–[21]

Stranger to Stranger received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, 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.[22] In Rolling Stone, Will Hermes said it was "as inviting, immaculately produced, jokey and unsettled a record as any he has ever made",[18] while The Guardian's Jon Dennis found the album "as rewarding as anything" Simon had recorded before, showcasing a "tenacious pursuit of new sounds".[14] Jonathan Bernstein of Entertainment Weekly called Stranger 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".[13] Randy Lewis from the Los 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".[23] The Independent's Andy Gill hailed it as Simon's "best in several years",[15] and Steve Smith of The Boston Globe considered it his "richest, most instantly appealing collection since Graceland (1986)".[24] Dan Weiss was somewhat less impressed in Spin, 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)".[19]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Mojo The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016

Track listing

All tracks written by Paul Simon. 

Stranger to Stranger – Standard edition
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

Personnel

  • Paul Simon: vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, autoharp, baritone acoustic guitar, bass harmonica, celeste, chromelodeon, clock, glockenspiel, gopichand, harmonium, mbira, percussion, 12-string guitar
  • Bobby Allende: conga drums
  • David Broome: chromelodeon
  • C.J. Camerieri: french horn, horns, trumpet
  • Clap! Clap!: electronic drums, programming, samples, synthesizers
  • Jack DeJohnette: drums (tracks 9 and 11)
  • Dean Drummond: bamboo marimba, zoomoozophone
  • Dave Eggar: cello
  • Alan Ferber: trombone
  • Gil Goldstein: string arrangements
  • Golden Gate Quartet: sampled backing vocals
  • Nelson González: maracas, tres
  • Wycliffe Gordon: trombone
  • Jamey Haddad: brushes, hadjira, percussion
  • Paul Halley: pipe organ
  • Carlos Henriquez: acoustic bass, bass
  • Katie Kresek: viola
  • Bakithi Kumalo: bass guitar, electric bass
  • Steve Marion: slide guitar
  • Sergio Martínez: hand claps, percussion
  • Bobby McFerrin: backing vocals
  • Keith Montie: backing vocals
  • Nico Muhly: celeste, orchestra bells, horn and flute arrangements
  • Vincent Nguini: electric and acoustic guitar
  • Jim Oblon: drum machine, drums, electronic drums, percussion
  • Nino de los Reyes: hand claps, percussion
  • Oscar de los Reyes: hand claps, percussion
  • Marcus Rojas: tuba
  • Mick Rossi: glockenspiel, harmonium, rhodes
  • Andy Snitzer: saxophone, backing vocals
  • Jared Soldiviero: bamboo marimba, bowed marimba, cloud chamber bowls, harmonic canon
  • Alex Sopp: flute
  • Mark Stewart: big boing mbira, trombadoo

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[29] 24
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[30] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[31] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[32] 9
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[33] 4
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[34] 3
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[35] 18
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[36] 8
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[37] 37
French Albums (SNEP)[38] 51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[39] 14
Irish Albums (IRMA)[40] 2
Italian Albums (FIMI)[41] 26
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[42] 67
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[43] 8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[44] 9
Scottish Albums (OCC)[45] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[46] 36
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[47] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[48] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[49] 1
US Billboard 200[50] 3

References

  1. ↑ https://www.amazon.de/Stranger-Paul-Simon/dp/B01DNISRLE/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1474729072&sr=1-2-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=stranger+to+stranger
  2. ↑ https://www.amazon.de/Stranger-Deluxe-Paul-Simon/dp/B01DV4WHHU/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1
  3. ↑ "Paul Simon's new album "Stranger to Stranger" set for release June 3rd". paulsimon.com. 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  4. ↑ Greene, Andy (2016-02-22). "Paul Simon Plots Expansive Tour Ahead of New Album 'Stranger to Stranger'". Rolling Stone.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Andy Greene (April 7, 2016). "Inside Paul Simon's Genre-Bending New Album Stranger to Stranger". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  6. ↑ Andy Greene (February 22, 2016). "Paul Simon Plots Expansive Tour Ahead of New Album Stranger to Stranger". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  7. ↑ Colin Stutz (April 7, 2016). "Paul Simon Announces New Album 'Stranger to Stranger;' Hear First Single, 'Wristband'". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ http://www.newsweek.com/paul-simon-announces-album-new-song-445032
  9. ↑ Jones, Alan (10 June 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Paul Simon nets seventh No.1 album". Music Week. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  10. ↑ which peaked at #3 in 1986"Artist Chart History – Paul Simon". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  11. ↑ "Drake's 'Views' Album No. 1 for Sixth Week on Billboard 200, Paul Simon Debuts at No. 3".
  12. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Stranger to Stranger − Paul Simon". AllMusic. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Jonathan Bernstein (June 3, 2016). "Paul Simon's Stranger to Stranger: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Jon Dennis (June 2, 2016). "Paul Simon: Stranger to Stranger review – a five-star tour through new sounds". The Guardian. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Andy Gill (June 1, 2016). "Paul Simon - Stranger To Stranger, album review: Ruminations on inequality wrapped in a joyous album". The Independent. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  16. ↑ Breen, Joe (May 26, 2016). "Album of the Week: Paul Simon's Stranger to Stranger – profound and searching". The Irish Times. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  17. ↑ Powell, Mike (June 9, 2016). "Paul Simon: Stranger to Stranger Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  18. 1 2 Will Hermes (June 7, 2016). "Paul Simon's New Album: 'Stranger To Stranger'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  19. 1 2 Weiss, Dan (June 8, 2016). "Review: Paul Simon Is Still Filling Out a (Corporeal) Form on 'Stranger to Stranger'". Spin. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  20. ↑ Elysa Gardner (June 4, 2016). "Review: Paul Simon embraces a troubled world on 'Stranger To Stranger'". USA Today. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  21. ↑ Christgau, Robert (June 24, 2016). "Believe It or Not, Paul Simon Is Still Making Music: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Critic Reviews for Stranger to Stranger by Paul Simon". Metacritic (CBS Interactive). Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  23. ↑ Randy Lewis (June 1, 2016). "Paul Simon returns with the exquisite 'Stranger to Stranger'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  24. ↑ Steve Smith (June 2, 2016). "New album is Paul Simon's best since 'Graceland'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  25. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Mojo. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  26. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  27. ↑ "50 Best Albums of 2016". Rolling Stone. November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Stranger to Stranger (Deluxe Edition) by Paul Simon - iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Paul Simon – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Paul Simon. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201623 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Paul Simon: Stranger to Stranger" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  40. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 23, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  42. ↑ "Chart Track". Oricon. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  44. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  45. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  47. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  48. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  49. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  50. ↑ "Paul Simon – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Paul Simon. Retrieved June 13, 2016.

External links

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