Never Been Gone

After the 2008 commercial disaster that was Carly Simon's THIS KIND OF LOVE, issued on the now-defunct Starbucks' Hear Music imprint, this collection of rearranged and re-recorded versions of her hits seems like a logical step backward in order to move forwards. Released on the Iris imprint and produced by "Paphiopedillium" (a group effort comprised of Simon, her son Benjamin Taylor, and others), Simon's on acoustic guitar with her voice right up front. The arrangements are considerably starker than their original versions and her voice is considerably lower, dictating that she transpose keys on many of these selections. That said, hearing songs such as "Boys in the Trees," with its faux-Brazilian rhythms and her ever-so-slightly more raspy delivery, is in some ways preferable to its original single version, simply because it is more believable.