McCartney III a rough cut gem
McCartney III third in a series of one-man-band albums
The arrival of the coronavirus last March forced many of us to dramatically alter the way we live our daily lives.
Having to isolate ourselves in our homes prompted us to come up with all manner of ways to fill those hours.
Some of us redecorated our homes, some of us wrote books, some of us read other people’s books, some of us learned how to cook or watched cat videos.
For Paul McCartney the solution to the “what do I do with this time” question was simple.
He chose to go into his studio and complete some tracks that he had previously not had time to finish.
Specifically, he wanted to work on When Winter Comes, an unreleased track from the early ’90s that he had recorded with George Martin.
He ultimately crafted a new passage for the song, which gave rise to another song called Long Tailored Winter Bird. That song would become the opening track for his just released new solo album, McCartney III.
When Winter Comes, his primary reason for going into the studio now closes the record, along with its new into, Winter Bird.
McCartney didn’t actually plan to make a record at this time, but one thing led to another and voila.
“I was completing songs just for my own fun, and eventually I had a lot of tracks finished and I wrote some special ones and I finished ones I’d been meaning to finish and all in all I suddenly had 11 tracks all finished ready to go,” he says in a video posted on his website.
The third in a series of oneman-band albums that began a full 50 years ago in 1970 with McCartney and picked up again 10 years later in 1980 with McCartney II sees him once again playing virtually all of the instruments himself and handling all of the production.
It was something of a liberating experience for him.
“With this album I had the freedom to do anything I wanted,” McCartney said recently in response to a fan’s questions.
“I could be experimental or lyrical, and I had a lot of fun. It’s a great way to create.”
And he truly is both experimental and lyrical on this record, his first new release since 2018’s No. 1 hit Egypt Station.
Built mostly from live takes of McCartney on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. atop that foundation, the record has melodic pop gems like Kiss of Venus, Deep Down and Pretty Boys, but it’s also got gritty material like Lavatory Lil and Slidin.
The track that really makes you sit up and take notice though is Deep Deep Feeling, a bold offering that runs over eight minutes in length.
Because of the way it was produced, McCartney III has a very natural feel. Some might say it’s a little rough around the edges in places, but the fact it’s not polished to a high gloss will make it more appealing to some fans.
As for the man himself, he may not be able to hit all the high notes he used to hit, but his voice is still so very good, so very easy to listen to.
McCartney III should do well for the former Beatle.
It’s already earned rave reviews in Rolling Stone, which called it “a laid-back gem” and Salon, which referred to it as a“… a spectacular return to form…”
(Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)
Doug Gallant is a freelance writer and well-known connoisseur of a wide variety of music. His On Track column will appear in The Guardian every second Thursday. To comment on what he has to say or to offer suggestions for future reviews, email him at dpagallant@gmail.com.