Seven Psalms is the fifteenth solo studio album by American musician Paul Simon. It was released on May 19, 2023, through Owl Records and Legacy Recordings.[2] The album was conceived as a seven-part piece meant to be listened to in its entirety, and is a completely acoustic performance.[1]
Simon has said the idea for the album came to him in a dream, and that he would wake up between 3:30 and 5:00 A.M. two to three nights a week to write lyrics for the project.[4] The main inspiration for the album was the Book of Psalms.[5] The album's cover art was taken from Thomas Moran's Two Owls.[5] The album is not broken into individual songs, but instead is intended to be listened to as one long piece.[6] Its digital incarnations keep this sequencing intact, and CD copies are not indexed individually.[7]
On April 12, 2023, Simon posted a "trailer" video to YouTube announcing the album and explaining its background.[8]
Seven Psalms received positive reviews from music critics. Jon Pareles at The New York Times designated it a Critic's Pick, extolling it as "observant, elliptical, perpetually questioning and quietly encompassing."[11] Chris Willman at Variety called it "a testament to how inquisitive and engaged an artist can be this late in a career [...] Seven Psalms is unlike any other Simon album in almost too many ways to list."[6] Michaelangelo Matos, reviewing for Rolling Stone, interpreted it as iconic of the spirituality at the center of his discography.[12] Poppie Platt at The Telegraph dubbed the effort "a half-shuttered window into the world of the man behind some of the world's most famous songs. If only Simon were to pry open said window slightly wider, one would feel more fulfilled."[9]Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic found it continually revealing: "At first, the record can seem like a tone poem, a meditation of mortality and spirituality, yet each subsequent listen reveals a moment of grace or insight that helps pull the entirety of the project into relief."[7]
