Sir Paul has a Christmas gift for everyone

 

Right in time for Christmas, Sir Paul has released his third solo album, McCartney III: a proper way to end what could be one of the worst years in decades! 40 years after its predecessor, McCartney III was born as a way to cheat the pandemic, both figuratively and literally. Figuratively, as McCartney could occupy what became a large chunk of free time from not touring or having any obligations, especially with his wife stuck in America. Literally, as he could legally leave his house to go to his studio as a “work related obligation”. While everyone was under lockdown, he was under what he called a “rockdown”…

So what is McCartney III? The last part of a trilogy? Delivering a special “testimony” sort of message? To answer, let us first do a bit of history. All the McCartney albums have one thing in common: Sir Paul plays all the instruments on them, and they can therefore be considered de facto pure solo albums. McCartney (looking back, what could now be referred to as McCartney I) was released in 1970 as the Beatles were splitting up and, for the first time ever, Sir Paul had no more bandmates with whom to record. It effectively became his cathartic way of coping with the end of the Beatles as he was sinking into alcohol and a form of depression. McCartney II was released a decade later, as the Wings were disbanding and, once again, McCartney was left to his own devices. McCartney III, meanwhile, was born out of part boredom, part desire to finish songs the author had had in mind for several years (some lying in a cupboard and recorded with George Martin for more than that). So, to say that McCartney III is the end, or even part of, a trilogy, trying to deliver a particular message is missing the point : the McCartney albums never had a specific intent and were always born out of necessity. What is more, as Sir Paul puts it : “I am always looking forward not backwards and had to be reminded by my producers that it would be nice to have three solo albums in 1970, 1980 and 2020. I replied, let’s do it then”.

That being said, each album allowed his creator total freedom and room to experiment without any influence or interference. McCartney recently said in an interview: “At some point I would ask the engineer working with me what he thought about what I was doing and as he was giving me some advice, I replied: NO!”. With that in mind, let’s review each of the Beatle’s solo opuses. McCartney I had in it what would become the Wings in terms of look & feel and, perhaps more interestingly, a raw simplicity that can be echoed all the way to the Jack Whites of our days. McCartney II, released in 1980, saw the arrival of digital music (“Temporary secretary” being a shining example), foreshadowing what the whole decade would sound like. Now, what about McCartney III then? Interestingly, what this album delivers is a new mix of old and new, with pristine production quality. Old in the equipment and instruments used with a mellotron, acoustic guitars, stand up basses (note: the stand up bass recorded in the album used to belong to Elvis Presley’s bass player, no less) but a state-of-the-art sound, arrangements and production: the best of both words, one might argue…

Let’s dive into it then. As with all McCartney albums, multiple hearings are required to understand the full richness of the oeuvre, after which you end up liking pretty much every song on the album. Starting with a revisited song, “Winter Bird”, which is also the last of the album, now renamed “Long Tailed Winter Bird”, as it has been enhanced with more rock guitar add-ins and layers upon layers of bass and drums arriving one after the other, a bit as if a solo artist had used a loop pedal… “Find My Way” is more personal, with some lovely harpsichord throughout. “Pretty Boys” is a folky melodic song with some of the most beautiful arrangements of the album. “Women and Wives” is the tale of an old man providing a bit of wisdom to the new generations with a lower, older voice giving it deeper meaning with its poetic “chasing the morrow” repeated as an incantation. “Deep Deep Feeling” is the corniest song of the lot, obviously talking about love; but if you leave the corniness aside, what you have is one of the most elaborate and richest songs of the whole album. A final mention for the song “Seize The Day” which has so many variations on it that it is a pure delight of a listen…

It is hard to think that this album was created by a 78-year old (except sometimes when the voice comes in and adds a bit of gravitas)! It is fresh, fun and vibrant with lots of different touches, some very hard rock reminiscent of “Helter Skelter” from the White album, some guitar work that could be traced back straight to “Black bird”… McCartney III is a must hear and a reminder that not all men are created equal when facing creativity!