Simple Songs (Jim O'Rourke album)

Simple Songs
Studio album by Jim O'Rourke
Released	May 19, 2015
Recorded	2009–2015 [1]
Studio	Hoshi To Niji, Steamroom (Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan)
Genre	Indie rock pop rock art rock
Length	37:38
Label	Drag City
Producer	Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke chronology
The Visitor (2009) Simple Songs (2015) Hands That Bind (2023)

Simple Songs is the third singer-songwriter album by American musician Jim O'Rourke. It was released on May 19, 2015, on Drag City. The album was released nearly fourteen years after O'Rourke's previous singer-songwriter album Insignificance (2001). ^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.0/10 [3]
Metacritic	86/100 [4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
American Songwriter	[5]
Consequence of Sound	B [6]
Exclaim!	8/10 [7]
Financial Times	[8]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10 [9]
Mojo	[10]
Pitchfork	8.6/10 [11]
Record Collector	[12]
Uncut	8/10 [13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86 based on 14 professional reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". ^[4]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	2015	45 [14]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	2015	9 [15]
The Wire	Releases of the Year 1–50	2015	7 [16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jim O'Rourke

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Friends with Benefits"	5:25
2.	"That Weekend"	3:15
3.	"Half Life Crisis"	4:42
4.	"Hotel Blue"	3:21
5.	"These Hands"	3:13
6.	"Last Year"	5:47
7.	"End of the Road"	5:33
8.	"All Your Love"	6:22
Total length:		37:38

Personnel

The following people contributed to Simple Songs: ^[17]

Main personnel

• Jim O'Rourke – vocals, guitar
• Sudoh Toshiaki – bass
• Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – drums
• Akiko Yoshino – French horn (4, 6, 7, 8)
• Ren Takada – pedal steel guitar (5)
• Eiko Ishibashi – piano, organ
• Jun Moriyama – saxophone (3)
• Nahoko Kamei – saxophone (3, 7)
• Atsuko Hatano – strings
• Daysuke Takaoka – tuba (2, 3, 6, 8)

Additional personnel

• John Golden – mastering
• Kuniyoshi Taikou – photography

References

1. Jim O'Rourke – Interview. Bomb (magazine). Retrieved December 15, 2015.
2. "Simple Songs - Jim O'Rourke". Drag City. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
3. "Simple Songs by Jim O'Rourke reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
4. "Reviews for Simple Songs by Jim O'Rourke". Metacritic . Retrieved December 15, 2015.
5. Horowitz, Hal (June 25, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". American Songwriter . Retrieved October 31, 2018.
6. Kivel, Adam (May 12, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke – Simple Songs". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved October 31, 2018.
7. Khanna, Vish (May 15, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Exclaim! . Retrieved October 31, 2018.
8. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (May 16, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs — review" . Financial Times . Retrieved May 10, 2019.
9. Wisgard, Alex (May 14, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke's called his new album Simple Songs, the big kidder". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved October 31, 2018.
10. "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Mojo (260). July 2015.
11. Richardson, Mark (May 15, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 31, 2018.
12. Kennedy, Jake (June 2015). "Jim O'Rourke – Simple Songs". Record Collector (441). Retrieved October 31, 2018.
13. Mulvey, John (July 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Uncut (218): 80.
14. "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork . December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
15. "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". stereogum.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
16. "2015 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50" . The Wire . No. 383. London. January 2016. p. 32 – via Exact Editions.(subscription required)
17. Simple Songs – Credits. Discogs. Retrieved December 15, 2015.