Listen to a jazzy new song from Paul Simon, “Wristband”

Singer-songwriter icon Paul Simon returns with his 13th solo album, Stranger to Stranger, out June 3rd via Concord Records. It was produced by Simon’s longtime collaborator Roy Halee and, if lead single “Wristband” is any indication, Simon is no less adventurous at 74 than he was at 44 with Graceland or at 24 with Sounds of Silence.

Led by a slick, jazzy upright bassline and a skittery polyrhythmic shuffle, the song starts out as a humorous story about getting locked outside a club and denied re-entry by a bouncer who doesn’t recognize the performer – “If you don’t have a wristband, my man, you don’t get through the door.”

As the story carries across verses, it becomes a parable of inequality, the wristband a symbol of the divide between the haves and have nots. Give the song a listen below, read the track listing and pre-order the record via SImon’s website here. Paul Simon plays at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, June 25th; tickets are available now via the venue’s website.