IN THE BLUE LIGHT
| Paul Simon
IN THE BLUE LIGHT
In the Blue Light is the fourteenth solo studio album by American folk rock singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Produced by Paul Simon and Roy Halee, it was released on September 7, 2018, through Legacy Recordings. The album consists of re-recordings of select lesser-known songs from Simon's catalog, often altering their original arrangements, harmonic structures, and lyrics. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
New versions of deep cuts from throughout his solo career remind us he’s still a perfectionist after all these years
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The Guardian
Generally, sparser arrangements allow more space for Simon’s dazzling imagery and oblique but relevant ruminations on subjects including immigration (René and Georgette …; The Teacher), domestic violence (a bluesier One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor) and the state of humanity and the planet (Questions for the Angels).
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Music OMH
It’s an intriguing selection – no big hits and nothing at all from Graceland, which indicates that this is a record that’s very much being made on Simon’s own terms: the kind of thing you can do at the end of a massively successful career.
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Billboard
It inspires the listener to get excited about new Paul Simon in 2018 while simultaneously sending you back to his substantial catalog, looking for other overlooked gems you missed the first time around
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Independent
There’s no neat theme uniting the songs Simon has chosen: they are contemplative and melancholic one moment, silly and absurdist the next
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Hot Press
Re-recordings of “songs that were odd enough to be overlooked the first time around.” - i.e. material that the less obsessed fan might have missed.
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Folk Radio
it’s a stunning piece of work from an artist who may be putting his travelling shows away but, at 76, remains at the peak of his creative and musical powers
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The Young Folks
If this were the final musical output of Simon’s illustrious catalog, it would be a stellar one at that. Even entering his upper 70s, Simon still has a knack for finding unique sounds, and writing clever lyrics.
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NPR
The songs he's chosen here, free of the baggage inevitably borne by his bigger hits, allow him to reconsider these foundations of his Jamesian "taste" without having to be burdened by his own legend.
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All About Jazz
The result is an album full of beautiful songs that is worthy of standing as its own entry in Simon's discography.
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ABS-CBN
In the Blue Light may very well be the antithesis of a greatest hits record, or the artist’s personal list of his greatest hits.
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Record Collector Magazine
Rather than skipping gamely through the hits, Simon has carefully selected songs that stand up to reworking from a dream team of musicians
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Spectrum Culture
Perhaps this is just the latest instance of him knowing better and gently reminding listeners of what they might have missed along the way before he shuffles off the public stage for the final time.
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All Music
Here, it's possible to hear the lively wit not just in the song but in the performance, revealing that for this singer/songwriter, this is not a collection of confessions: this is craft, through and through.
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Irish Times
a new coat of paint for some faded old songs
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Newsday
Giving beautiful new context to some underappreciated corners of his catalog
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Off the Tracks
Paul Simon is a class act. Always has been. If this is his swansong then it ensures he always will be.
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Newstalk ZB
A lovely endpiece to a stunning 60 year career.
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The Advocate
The idea here is so interesting that you'd love to see other artists try it, if only to know the overlooked songs that have stuck with them. "In the Blue Light" is neither nostalgia nor a rescue mission. It's a challenging new work.
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Liverpools Sound and Vision
A reworking of songs that might just be considered contemporary and recent in some quarters but still with that sensational Simon appeal sewn throughout.
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Americana UK
If ‘In the Blue Light’ is meant as a coda to the career of one of the greatest songwriters of the rock era, it is truly a unique and rewarding way to celebrate as well as rediscover Paul Simon’s peerless catalogue through a fresh perspective.
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The Massachusetts Daily Collegian
The songs are evocative and the arrangements are striking
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Sungenre
Therefore, In The Blue Light is not exactly an expansion upon the interesting textures and sounds explored in 2016’s Stranger To Stranger, rather it is an ode to Simon’s past work, a final parting gift to long-time fans who can now appreciate the growth he has had over his 50 years of songwriting, by contrasting his new re-recordings to the old original cuts.
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Elmore Magazine
True to its title, In the Blue Light contains a disproportionate amount of melancholy and end-of-life musings which may register with older listeners more than youngsters—if you’re looking to run into Julio, down by the schoolyard, curb those expectations.
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The Sentry
the album delivers some pointed social commentary and surprising instrumentation that makes it a fun listen
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Secret Meeting
Though many of the rearrangements are only subtle shifts from their original presentations, they all have a different energy. In fact, the only thing that doesn’t shift is Simon’s still-pristine voice.
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Knox News
In fact, he only rarely sounds like a septuagenarian on “In the Blue Light,” and often the songs feel more fitting now than they did on their original release.
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Classic Pop Magazine
he’s dug out lesser-known tracks from his catalogue and hired an impressive line-up of crack musicians to give them a dramatic overhaul. It’s not hard to understand why the idea must have felt so enticing.
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Datebook
His voice shows its age on these new versions, sounding dramatically huskier and more measured than it was on the originals. But its world-weary shagginess also serves to contrast out the sleek production.
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Robert Christgau
Simon has arrived at a creaky boyishness that serves him well on arrangements that cant both jazz and chamber while barely hinting at his many shades of folk-rock, including what he's always been too smart to call "world."
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The Afterworld
If this album should prove to be Paul Simon’s swansong, he has left us with a real treasure trove.
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Downbeat
This album is a powerful reminder that Simon often eschews easy-flowing, rhyming lyrics in favor of songcraft that is more musically intricate and intellectually stimulating. He zigs and zigs while other composers lazily zag.
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The Washington Times
While some of this material was obscure for good reason, most of the second looks reward listeners.
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mxdwn.com
In The Blue Light is a refreshing take on the farewell album. Choosing to honor his own legacy rather than reinvent his sound in an attempt at relevancy, Simon adds just enough newness to craft an album his fans will surely treasure.
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High Res Audio
demonstrates the high class of this exceptional musician, whose songs sympathetically change between pop and jazz on his new album
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Elsewhere
if there is going to be a coda to his career as he retires from performances in a few days then this is a much more more valuable document of a restless mind and consummate songwriter
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Tim Lee Songs
One thing you can guarantee from this album is that even though Simon is looking ‘backwards,’ his ideas are still as fresh as they ever were.
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Radio New Zealand
Either way, In The Blue Light suggests some new ways to think about the music he has already made.
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Jazz Journal
Ambitiously arranged throughout, it’s a record that, on first spin, wins you over with its ever-flickering change in mood.
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Legacy Recordings
the album features a talented cast of musicians who have joined Simon to lend fresh perspectives on 10 of the artist's favorite (though perhaps less-familiar) songs, drawn from his unparalleled body of work
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Vintage Rock
Sometimes, Simon opts to tweak a note; other times a lyric. In the case of his 2018 studio album — a highly mature effort — whole instrumentation isn’t out of the realm of updating, whether crafted in the 21st century or not.
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