So Beautiful or So What

Those who foolishly stopped paying close attention to Paul Simon's career sometime after Graceland should note that So Beautiful or So What is as fine a piece of work as anything he's done since the aforementioned blockbuster. As the man who once wrote "How terribly strange to be 70" stands mere months from septuagenarian status, he seems more focused than ever on both mortality and spirituality; almost every song deals with one or both. Opening cut "Getting Ready For Christmas Day," one of the poppier tracks, samples Rev. J.M. Gates' 1941 sermon of the same name, but it's really Judgement Day that both Gates and Simon have in mind. "The Afterlife" follows the progress of a soul ensnared in heaven's red tape. The dazzling, through-composed ballad "Love and Hard Times" is almost a counterpoint to Randy Newman's "God's Song," envisioning a world where humanity finds its own salvation after God abdicates responsibility. But however lofty the concepts, So Beautiful is also filled with hooky riffs and infectious rhythms, incorporating a pan-cultural palette that utilizes multiple influences simultaneously. Bluegrass vocal harmonists share space with Indian percussionists, but it's all part of a stylistic whole, informed by many things but first and foremost a product of Simon's brilliant vision.