A new album by Paul Simon has just been released!
A while back, my Swedish friend Ricardo started releasing his own tunes on Spotify.
Instead of releasing an album, he released a song a month and with it, a painting which is also the cover for the single.
This got me thinking that how we release music in 2023 really isn’t the way it used to be.
Now, Paul Simon has released a new album. First of all, I found out through listening to a podcast I subscribe to called Broken Record. Without it, I wouldn’t have known, at least not today.
Halfway through it, I realize that I should probably listen to the album he’s talking about, rather than listening to Paul talking about recording it…
So I pop over to Spotify and find one track called Seven Psalms. But it’s not an album, where are all the individual tracks?
Oh well, I guess I can listen to one track and then when prompted to “buy the rest”, I won’t, because there are so many other things to get for free, right?
So why am I writing this blog? Because this album review is more about my opinion than Paul Simon’s new album (this is what he says in the Broken Record podcast!) if I haven’t even heard it?
Well, it turns out that Paul Simon has done the opposite of my friend Ricardo, he’s released the entire “album” as one track.
I have to say, this is genius. It means we’re forced to listen to it as a whole, and if we want more, we have to buy it. Even though we’ve been given the entire thing.
Not that it matters to Paul Simon, he doesn’t exactly need the money. But by releasing it this way, everyone can hear it, and he gets to control the entire experience, giving you the option to go further – I find this interesting.
As mentioned, all ways of releasing music in 2023 really are possible, just do whatever you can dream up!
So what about the album? Well, first of all, you should find out for yourself, it’s not exactly difficult, just click the link above, or check the playlist above, I’ve included it!
I can tell you this much, it’s based on one acoustic guitar so how could it be anything but amazing?!?
Seven Psalms | Related Pages
Paul Simon
Paul Simon is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, both as half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel and also as a solo artist.
His many hits include Homeward Bound, Scarborough Fair, You Can Call Me Al, The Boxer, Cecilia, Mrs. Robinson, and Graceland.
Paul Simon on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
