One of the most continuously fascinating things about the sound of Stranger to Stranger is the variety of custom instruments, as well as the off-kilter electronic feel to quite a few of the album's songs. The latter is in part due to the Italian electronic musician Clap! Clap!, whom Simon worked with on "The Werewolf", "Wristband", and "Street Angel", which are certainly some of the most electronic sounding songs in his catalog since the snooze-fest Surprise from 2007 - while that album sounded too artificial from Brian Eno's smothering of electronics, Stranger to Stranger feels more organic and warm, in part due to the creative percussion and noises that compliment the nature of the tracks. "Wristband" is a goofy enough song about a musician unable to get into his own concert that becomes a unique social commentary on wealth inequality - you've got to have a wristband, my man. These electronic elements feels far more fitting on Simon ten years after the fact, although maybe it's because Simon's diligent partner Roy Halee co-produced the record. Simon's voice has also aged remarkably well, although he never was one to particularly strain his voice. It's a great sounding record, often more chaotic and frantic sounding than So Beautiful or So What, and just as often to its benefit.
Not only is it daring musically, but Stranger to Stranger's refined writing process makes for some of Simon's most densely worded material of his entire career. The album's lush title track is prime example, and also may stand as one of Simon's finest love songs to date - a eloquently worded song about the enduring power and thrill of falling in love, brilliantly expressed through the peaceful instrumentation and frantic chorus. "I'm just jittery. It's just a way of dealing with my joy." We also see the motif of "Street Angels" reoccurring throughout the album, playing like a continuation on ideas of spirituality from his previous album. In the song introducing this character (the song being "Street Angel", of course), we see him as a frantic visionary who is later diagnosed with schizophrenia on the song "In a Parade", complete with an equally chaotic chorus and refrain, the latter of which detailing his mental illness in naked truth "Diagnosis: Schizophrenic." The album is also complete with some of Simon's darkest writing, such as the depraved pleasures of capitalism on opening track "The Werewolf" or the reflection of the mortality and death on "The Riverbank", inspired by a hospital visit and the death of a teacher Simon personally knew in Sandy Hook. Some songs still confuse, though, like the dense "Cool Papa Bell" which contains the most daring decision on the album yet - Simon is swearing again, although it's not nearly as embarrassing as on Songs From the Capeman. Other moments like the experimental instrumental "The Clock" still leave some thinking to do, but that's all the more reason to listen to this one more in the future.
At the time of writing, it's rumored that Simon is recording another studio album for 2023, tentatively titled The Seven Psalms; truth is that news is fairly old and nothing has come of it sense, so I'm a bit skeptical, but I will still await a potential Simon album with open arms and open ears. On the off-chance that he does never record another studio album, though, Stranger to Stranger is a more than brilliant way to cap off his musical legacy. By some measures, Simon's thirteenth album is his most adventurous and daring in many years, and as well-written as his greatest work typically is. It's still ripe with further exploration in my mind, and I'm all here for it. For now, what we have of Simon is a brilliant singer-songwriter catalog, deeply human and expressive, and Stranger to Stranger is a brilliant late-stage representation of his strongest qualities.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Stranger to Stranger.
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