Backing up his much lauded self-titled debut album last fall, Harper Simon has come up with a brand new video for Simon & Garfunkfel lauding cruise, "Berkeley Girl," the album's exquisitely romantic closing song and an old-fashioned love song of the sweetest variety. A slice of acoustic pop with just a hint of Autumn, the track is perfect for these darkening nights. The video recalls the romantic quality of the great films of the 1970s, a perfect fit for Simon's classic sounding folk-rock love song written to a friend."'Berkeley Girl' is a love song to a friend," Simon tells Spinner. "Born in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco during the Summer of Love, she believes in love and service and good rock 'n' roll. Actress Jena Malone, the star of the video, is a hyper-imaginative Earth sprite with some serious fashion sense." A poetic mysticism stands out over the subtle and wandering acoustic tinkering. There is a battle going on the vibe stakes between a piercing aching and sincere nod and a bit of a lame and derivative lag. For this single the former element seems to stand its ground. Malone is on hand as the "Berkeley Girl", looking delightfully sweet and doe-eyed, a 70's Laurel Canyon flower child behind the wheel of a classic VW Karmann Ghia. She seems to be dropping colossal amounts of liquid acid with Simon, whose voice is all juniper and roses on this dreamy ballad.
Sounds like Simon found love again. Director Benjamin Kutsko filmed the video using old fashioned 8mm film, the video intentionally evokes a nostalgic '70s feel. In doing so, it captures a certain Californian vibe that is characteristic of both Berkeley and Echo Park alike -- it's just that where it's called 'hippie' in Berkeley, in Echo Park they prefer 'new bohemian.' But something else changes when the girl moves from one to the other -- her relationship to the narrator. "I was really excited to explore Echo Park as a character in this video, as well as the delicate balance that exists between two people whose relationship has moved from lovers to friends," Kutsko said. "Shooting on film was important to me; the second the song begins, it is clear that Harper's voice doesn't live in a digital world."
However the time taken has not been wasted. Give a listen to Simon's shining solo debut and you'll soon recognize that he is much more than just a shooting star. Simon matches a keen sense of melody with a world weariness that can only come with age. By turns nostalgic and hopeful, his debut album is an assured statement from a songwriter who clearly enjoys his craft. Simon may be instantly recognizable, but his music is a deeply intriguing, original experience. Simon represents a seamless yet wide-ranging whole. He offers up a rather spooky, uncanny replication of his father Paul's famous songwriting style, and came as the singer was preparing to blow out the candles on his 37th birthday next Tuesday.
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