"songs" is definitely not shallow. it is full of thick meaty tunes that you can sit down with in your dark leather chair with a glass of wine, read a thick book and call yourself a philosopher, it's that tasteful. this is probably not the case for most folds fans or for anyone really. this album is for a thoughtful mood and if you catch it at the right time it can be heavily nostalgic. all songs for silverman needs is some funky songs that you can groove to that fits the mood of the album and that would be quite a feat to craft for anyone, but i guess folds just wanted a more serious, melodious, beautiful album, much like beck's "sea change".
if you're new to folds, don't start with this album some would probably write him of as being boring. start with rockin the suburbs and expand from there. another more practical quality of songs is the sparse swearing and the record zero f**** which is always nice for us faint of the ears. a real musician dosn't need a foul mouth to attract attention
ending with that random bit of wisdom, songs for silverman is a beautiful ,romantic, musically sound album and definitely worth the time
just perfect for a lovesick summer