Album Review: Harper Simon (Self Titled)

Have you ever wondered what an Elliot Smith record would sound like if coated with watermelon Jolly Ranchers candy? Yeah. Me either. But I know now without a doubt that Harper Simon’s new self-titled record, Harper Simon, epitomizes the above question.

Firstly, I wasn’t sure what I was really in for from the first track “All to God.” “Awesome,” I thought. “Another emo-Christian boy who’s gonna cry in the key of C for 38 minutes about the girl who wouldn’t hold his hand down by the lake that night.” Nope. Honestly, just forget the first track ever happened. It’s like the beginning of someone’s award acceptance speech. Yeah. We all get it, but save that shit for the liner notes.

The real music begins with “Wishes and Stars.” The melody has a very familiar, uplifting flow that playfully draws you in with the tinkling sound of a xylophone and smooth, layered, throaty lyrics. Following shortly afterward comes a steel guitar driven country song called “Shooting Star” that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy like the feeling of just finishing a warm piece of pecan pie next to the fireplace.

Most of the entire record is very light-heartedly heart-felt. As I mentioned before, it has playful qualities. “Ha Ha” is simply a song about laughter where background singers laugh in child-like harmonies, which is weird and awesome. The album closer, “Berkley Girl” pays a definite tribute to Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Dangling Conversation.”

There is one thing that bothers me about Harper Simon, though, from the song “Tennessee.” Though it has a very catchy, country twang to it, and it is a good song, it almost seems like Simon is trying too hard to justify his country-esque sound with the line “I was born in New York City, but my Mom’s from Tennessee.” If that’s not the case, and I’m just reading it wrong, then fine, but you should never feel the need to justify the authenticity of your music. Music is what you make it… Not what you make it for.

Ultimately, my favorite thing about this record is the lyrics. More times than not, the lyrics on a record are undermined by over-the-top melodic structures and unnecessary filler instruments, which can be very overpowering and actually weaken a record. But Simon’s words can be heard plain and clear in this self-titled effort, and they are very well versed, uplifting and generally intelligent lyrics. It really is like Elliot Smith got loaded on ecstasy and went to Nashville. This album is a very simple and refreshing listen.

MP3: Harper Simon - The Audit

-Cory Coleman [c]