HOUSTON CHRONICLE

May 8, 2006

Simon's Surprise doesn't live up to past efforts

(2’5 out of  4)

By ANDREW DANSBY

Poor Paul Simon. His fans don't want a surprise, they want another Graceland. Perhaps that's why he's released only three proper studio albums in the 20 years since that landmark recording. The new Surprise isn't the best of the three (that'd be 1991's sublime The Rhythm of the Saints), but it's more daring and satisfying than his last, 2000's You're the One.

Simon — normally a great starter (Boy in the Bubble on Graceland, The Obvious Child on Rhythm) — stumbles out of the gate with How Can You Live in the Northeast?, an overly wordy tune about faith with a fidgety guitar riff. It's a cumbersome conspiracy that's heavy on pondering and light on melody. "Weak as the winter sun, we enter life on Earth, names and religion come just after date of birth," he sings. True, but so what?

Things perk up on Outrageous. The verses are obnoxiously raplike and political, but by the chorus, Simon hits on one of his all-day hummable melodies and one of his anxiety staples: getting old. "Who's gonna love ya when your looks are gone?"  he asks.

The heavy/light dynamic runs through the rest of the record. Wartime Prayers is the obvious gospel-flavored song it just had to be. It's followed by a better effort, Beautiful, a cryptic lyric backed by a relaxed groove and a quietly perfect guitar line.

Production was handled by Brian Eno and mixing done by Tchad Blake. For better (I Don't Believe) and worse (Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean), both nudge Simon out of his post-folk funk and into some experimental regions. The herky-jerky sound kind of fits an album that doesn't completely commit to Simon's nervous musings about self (where he's on solid ground) and the world (less so).

But the stylistic crosscurrents don't work quite as naturally as when Simon threw listeners for a loop by crossing his music with the sounds of South Africa and South America.

It's difficult to sustain surprise.