Paul Simon has announced a new album: “Seven Psalms” will be released on May 19th. The idea came to the 81-year-old in a dream, as he recalls in the trailer video that followed the announcement of the new LP, showing behind-the-scenes footage. Included on the work is a 33-minute, seven-movement collection that Simon says should be heard as one coherent piece. A documentary called “In Restless Dreams” was also promised.
American singer-songwriter (and Simon’s wife) Edie Brickell has a guest appearance on “Seven Psalms”. and the British vocal ensemble Voces8. Simon co-produced the new long player with Kyle Crusham.
The trailer video:
Documentary trailer and an album that appeared in a dream
With the announcement, Simon also shows a trailer video for the documentary and thus offers a brief look behind the scenes. The 81-year-old says that the concept of the album appeared in his dreams: “On January 15, 2019 I had a dream that said: ‘You are working on a piece called ‘Seven Psalms’. The dream was so strong that I got up and wrote it. But I had no idea what that meant. Little by little the information came.”
He woke up two or three times a week between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. and: “I came up with words that I wrote down and then started putting them together.”
He continues, “I try to let things flow in such a way that you fall into a dream all the time, and I think if you’re ready to fall into a dream, then you’re ready to be to drop judgment. This is a journey I must complete. The whole play is an argument I have with myself about whether I’m a believer or not.”
The video ends with a note that this is a trailer of sorts for an upcoming creation documentary called In Restless Dreams, which will be directed by documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (“Taxi to Holle”).
Tracklist: “Seven Psalms” contains seven songs
- 01 The Lord
- 02 Love Is Like a Braid
- 03 My Professional Opinion
- 04 Your Forgiveness
- 05 Trail of Volcanoes
- 06 The Sacred Harp
- 07 Wait
More about Paul Simon
Simon retired from touring in 2018. However, he never completely ruled out performances. For example, in August 2019, Simon returned to the stage to play at the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, donating proceeds to local environmental nonprofits.
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