It has been about two months since the release of Paul McCartney’s last album release, New. So why am I reviewing it now? Simply because I don’t think one can fully review an album until it has been fully digested. One has to listen to a collection of songs a dozen or more times and listen closely (with headphones, at least once) to get all the nuances of the music. This collection of songs was available with 12 songs plus a “hidden track” and a “Deluxe Version” featuring 14 songs plus the “hidden track.” Additionally, the Japanese version of New included a song that was not featured on the release anywhere else in the world.
The collection of songs – I have all 16, so that is what I will review – is McCartney’s best release since 1973’s Band On the Run. To be sure, I am a huge fan of McCartney and believe he has released dozens of great albums and hundreds of great songs over his entire career, but this New album is so phenomenal that two months later, it’s still spins at least 3 times a week in my car while commuting to work. (I spend about 15 hours a week in my car).
- Four rock/pop albums
Simply put, McCartney in his 60s was more productive than almost any other artist on the planet (U2, for example, released just 3 studio albums and 2 live albums in the same span). And he accomplished all this while losing his first wife to cancer, marrying and divorcing his second wife (and fathering and raising a child with her) and marrying his third wife. I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.
The rock albums McCartney released following Flaming Pie were good albums, no doubt, but they weren’t nearly as memorable as some of his previous work and most fans would probably admit that they don’t spin them more than once or twice a year. So while I looked forward to the release of New, I was certainly not expecting anything great with this release.
Yes, I underestimated the greatest musician of the last half century.
I recently read a book by Daniel Levitin called This Is Your Brain on Music, in which the author covers the theory that anyone can become a professional musician with a certain number of hours of practice, but I believe that theory to be absolute rubbish and cite McCartney as my evidence. Before The Beatles broke in the UK, bass player Stuart Sutcliffe left the band and McCartney became the band’s bass player; why, because even in his late teens, he could pick up an instrument and play it well. In the mid-60s, McCartney began composing on piano and, despite no formal training, was writing rock anthems like “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude” and “The Long and Winding Road.”
McCartney’s incredible talent is on full display on New, with McCartney experimenting with anything from old African instruments he had recently purchased to classic Greek instruments to the most modern electronic instruments; none of which he had ever used on a recording before. Clearly McCartney is an artist still experimenting and trying new things, even at 71. But that's been McCartney throughout his career. And when you think about it, what other artist of his generation could get away with so much experimentation? The Stones? LOL! The Who? Pish-posh! Page & Plant? Surely you jest! Clapton? Never. Only McCartney can get away with this kind of experimentation!
But unlike other recent recordings, McCartney also had his band in the studio with him, having drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr., guitarists Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson and keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens perform on a number of tracks. And why not? The guys are outstanding and accomplished musicians who have been performing with McCartney together as a unit since their Super Bowl pregame show appearance in January, 2002. If you do the math, you’d discover that McCartney has been with these guys for almost 12 years; even longer than the recording career of The Beatles and Wings. In fact, McCartney’s recording/touring relationship with Wickens goes back over two decades.
All these years of working together has given McCartney more trust of his touring team in the studio. I’m sure it’s not easy working with a living legend. I’m sure his bandmates have peppered McCartney with questions about The Beatles and Wings – who wouldn’t – but after 11 years, those questions have been asked and answered and now these guys are more than just a band. They’re friends; a tight-knit unit whose chemistry is undeniable.
But there are two more ingredients that went into the recording of this rich aural tapestry: the songs themselves and the four producers McCartney worked with. I’ll get to the songs in a moment.
Usually when an artist has more than one producer on an album, it’s because that artist did not get along with the first producer, but still used some of their work. In the case of New, McCartney was looking to do something… well… new! Thus, McCartney auditioned four of the top British producers in the industry with the expectation that he’d choose one. Problem was, he liked them all. Two had lineage to The Beatles – Giles Martin is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and Giles had produced the soundtrack to The Beatles/Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, Love, while Ethan Johns is the son of one-time Beatles engineer Glynn Johns. The wild cards are Mark Ronson, a 38 year-old British DJ, musician and producer and Paul Epworth, a 39 year-old British musician and producer. Ronson and Epworth have produced some of the most successful British artists of the last decade. All four producers helped give McCartney a fresh sound he hasn’t had on a recording in many, many years. And the variety keeps the album sounding fresh and diverse track-by-track.
But without great songs, one can hire the best musicians in the world, a wide variety of instruments and all the talented producers one can find and still fail to produce anything worth a listen.
The songs, themselves, on New are outstanding.
Leading off the album is “Save Us,” a straight-ahead, brisk rocker that lasts just 2:39 and features the most basic rock instruments. The song was co-written with Epworth and written as it was recorded. This is a great McCartney ditty that should become a staple on his next tour, perhaps even a show opener.
Next up is a song called “Alligator,” which was produced by Ronson and is the album’s first foray into diverse instrumentation. One can tell from interviews that this was one of McCartney’s favorite tracks on the album. It’s an up-tempo rocker with a slow/mellow break for the bridge and has good drive to it.
“On My Way to Work” is the third track and is one of my favorites as it is written very cleverly. The second verse introduces us to a woman the singer meets through a magazine; she waterskies and studies history. Then the verse takes a turn and we discover that she’s a centerfold who "had removed her clothes, for the likes of me." This is not something you’d expect from McCartney. After this verse, the song plunges into a plodding march beat reminiscent of Russian trudgery, which sums-up many people’s robotic daily commutes to work. The song also features a string section and Wix playing a soothing accordion during the verses. A great track.
The fourth song is another outstanding piece and the second single from the LP. “Queenie Eye” is another up-tempo rocker driven by McCartney’s piano playing. The hook is unmistakably McCartney and the chorus lyrics refer to a childhood game McCartney used to play. This song will go down as another McCartney classic.
The fifth song on the album is a guitar ballad called “Early Days.” The song is a wistful and nostalgic look back at McCartney’s early days that, after a warm and fuzzy first two verses, takes a turn on the third verse and jabs at revisionist Beatles historians who weren’t there to know “who did what” in the Beatles early days because they simply “weren’t where it was at.” McCartney also recorded his vocals dry, without any effects. One can clearly hear at points that his voice may not be quite what it once was, but at 71 years of age, it’s still damned good and effective at capturing the mood of the song.
The first single and title track of the album is the sixth track. “New” features a ridiculous array of instruments but is carried by harpsichord and Abe Laboriel’s thumping drums. McCartney’s band contribute outstanding harmonies, particularly on the Beach Boys-esque a cappella coda. This track is another example of the classic McCartney ditty and should also become a staple at McCartney’s live shows.
McCartney turns to his ciguitar (cigar box guitar) for some slide work on the next track, “Appreciate.” This track features a McCartney vocal that is dripping in affects. The verses are a bit understated in comparison to the faster and driving chorus and McCartney’s band contribute nice harmonies at times. This song is very atypical of McCartney and his work with Firemen can be plainly heard here. Songs like “Appreciate” keep the album diverse and exciting.
The anthemic “Everybody Out There” follows. This song will be an obvious staple of live shows in 2014 as it is one of the more stripped-down songs on the album and can be easily played live. The call-and-response portions of the song make it an obvious live track. It’s another song with that great McCartney hook.
On New’s ninth track, McCartney breaks out his decades-old reel-to-reel tape recorder to create tape loops the way he did on The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” nearly 50 years ago. The track, “Hosanna,” is a love song with a haunting, almost ethereal sound created with those loops, an acoustic guitar, bass and Abe’s thumping drums. A very unique track that, again, shows the Fireman influence while diversifying the album.
“I Can Bet” kicks off my favorite part of the album – the final three songs of the standard release. This song also features some tape loops, but they’re far more subtle and the track, itself, is a more typical upbeat McCartney rocker driven by the acoustic guitar; until the solo break, which features an almost spacy keyboard solo followed by driving drums. Again, it’s a far different track than anything McCartney’s done recently and a welcome break from the past.
“Looking at Her” is not your mom and dad’s McCartney. This song begins as a nice ballad with some synthesizer programming but takes a heavy electronic turn during the chorus that sounds more like Trent Reznor than Paul McCartney before breaking into a soft Spanish guitar solo. This song is pure brilliance and sounds phenomenal on headphones.
The standard issue album’s last listed track is “Road,” which is stunningly dark and eerie and features no guitars at all. The celeste reminds me of another dark-ish song by Edwyn Collins called “A Girl Like You.” McCartney’s vocals are understated and treated and the keyboard bass on the breaks are such a change of pace from the song that it’s stark and stunning. This is a song I never could’ve imagined McCartney crafting but it’s one of my favorites.
The next two songs are on the “Deluxe Version” of New, though I don’t know why anyone would purchase the standard issue and miss out on two more excellent cuts.
“Turned Out” is a rocker that sounds like it came out of unreleased sessions from George Harrison in the mid- to late-1980s and could easily fit in on Harrison’s Cloud 9 or his Traveling Wilburys albums, until you get to the piano break, which is all McCartney. This is as pleasant a song as you’ll hear on New and it would be a mistake to purchase the album without this song.
“Get Me Out of Here” is a very interesting song in that it is strummed on an acoustic guitar and sung as if it were an old country and western song, but after the first verse, Brian Ray joins in on conga drums and after the second verse, McCartney adds a West African tribal instrument called the ngoni (don’t even ask me how to pronounce it). Somehow the odd combination of instruments works well and the song is quite catchy.
After a 10 second delay, the album’s “hidden track” reveals itself. The piano ballad “Scared” is a simply a typical McCartney piano ballad expressing McCartney’s fear of telling his new girlfriend (now wife) how he really feels about her. It’s a simple and pretty song that seems to end abruptly, like the song can go on but doesn’t and fails to resolve itself.
I conclude with a track that was released only in Japan, “Struggle.” This song could’ve easily been a Firemen track and is a driving electronic song is also somewhat haunting and features McCartney acting almost as a circus caller during the bridge. It’s a good track and I cannot understand why McCartney would leave it off the “Deluxe Version” of the album. It can be found and downloaded (illegally, I suppose) from the internet, so McCartney fans everywhere have it.
In all, these 16 tracks are phenomenal. They are fresh, experimental, powerful, and everything one looking for something new would like to find at any age. With two weeks left to complete your Christmas shopping, if you’re one gift shy for someone you love, New is a great way to fill that stocking!
Happy listening.
Background
Paul McCartney’s last great album, in my humble opinion, was 1997’s Flaming Pie, which was a great collection of acoustic and rock songs. Between Flaming Pie and New, McCartney released:- Four rock/pop albums
- Run Devil Run (1999)
- Driving Rain (2001)
- Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)
- Memory Almost Full (2007)
- Twin Freaks (2005), with producer The Freelance Hellraiser
- Electric Arguments (2008), with producer Youth, released as “Firemen”
- Kisses On the Bottom (2012)
- Liverpool Sound Collage (2000)
- Ecce Cor Meum (2006)
- Ocean’s Kingdom (2011)
- Back in the US (2002) with Concert DVD
- Back in the World Live (2003)
- Live in Los Angeles (2007)
- Good Evening New York City (2009) with Concert DVD
- iTunes Live from Capitol Studios (2012) with Concert DVD
- Wingspan (2001)
- The McCartney Years (2007)
- George Michael – “Heal the Pain,” 2006
- Tony Bennett – “The Very Thought of You,” 2006
- George Benson & Al Jarreau – “Givin’ It Up,” 2006
- Nitin Sawhney – “My Soul,” 2009
- Ringo Starr – “Walk With You,” 2010
- Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers – “Best Love,” 2011
- The Bloody Beatroots – “Out of Sight,” 2013
- Eric Clapton – “All of Me,” 2013
- Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear – “Cut Me Some Slack,” 2013
- “Vanilla Sky,” 2001, from the soundtrack to the film Vanilla Sky
- “(I'm Partial to Your) Abracadabra,” 2001, tribute album honoring Ian Dury
- “I Want to Walk You Home,” 2007, tribute album honoring Fats Domino
- “Whole Life,” 2007, tribute album honoring Nelson Mandela, featuring Dave Stewart
- “(I Want To) Come Home,” 2009, from the soundtrack to the film Everybody’s Fine
- “It’s So Easy,” 2011, tribute album honoring Buddy Holly
Simply put, McCartney in his 60s was more productive than almost any other artist on the planet (U2, for example, released just 3 studio albums and 2 live albums in the same span). And he accomplished all this while losing his first wife to cancer, marrying and divorcing his second wife (and fathering and raising a child with her) and marrying his third wife. I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.
The rock albums McCartney released following Flaming Pie were good albums, no doubt, but they weren’t nearly as memorable as some of his previous work and most fans would probably admit that they don’t spin them more than once or twice a year. So while I looked forward to the release of New, I was certainly not expecting anything great with this release.
Yes, I underestimated the greatest musician of the last half century.
What’s New?
New is a phenomenal piece of work for a number of reasons. First of all, McCartney plays, perhaps, the widest array of instruments on any album of which he’s ever been a part of, Beatles, Wings or solo. To wit, according to the album’s credits, McCartney performed on electric guitar, 6-string and 12-string acoustic guitar, bass, glockenspiel, percussion, synthesizer, celeste, Play-Me-A-Song book, ciguitar, piano, drums, lap steel, Moog, Mellotron, tambourine, upright (Bill Black) bass, harmonium, harpsichord, Wurlitzer, conga drums, maracas, bouzouki with pencils, keyboards, tape loops, tubular bells, ngoni, washboard and thimbles. I looked each instrument up on the internet and they’re all legit (except, perhaps, the children’s song book, but its inclusion illustrates just how far McCartney will go to get the right sound). |
| Cover art for Paul McCartney's 2013 release, New |
I recently read a book by Daniel Levitin called This Is Your Brain on Music, in which the author covers the theory that anyone can become a professional musician with a certain number of hours of practice, but I believe that theory to be absolute rubbish and cite McCartney as my evidence. Before The Beatles broke in the UK, bass player Stuart Sutcliffe left the band and McCartney became the band’s bass player; why, because even in his late teens, he could pick up an instrument and play it well. In the mid-60s, McCartney began composing on piano and, despite no formal training, was writing rock anthems like “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude” and “The Long and Winding Road.”
McCartney’s incredible talent is on full display on New, with McCartney experimenting with anything from old African instruments he had recently purchased to classic Greek instruments to the most modern electronic instruments; none of which he had ever used on a recording before. Clearly McCartney is an artist still experimenting and trying new things, even at 71. But that's been McCartney throughout his career. And when you think about it, what other artist of his generation could get away with so much experimentation? The Stones? LOL! The Who? Pish-posh! Page & Plant? Surely you jest! Clapton? Never. Only McCartney can get away with this kind of experimentation!
But unlike other recent recordings, McCartney also had his band in the studio with him, having drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr., guitarists Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson and keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens perform on a number of tracks. And why not? The guys are outstanding and accomplished musicians who have been performing with McCartney together as a unit since their Super Bowl pregame show appearance in January, 2002. If you do the math, you’d discover that McCartney has been with these guys for almost 12 years; even longer than the recording career of The Beatles and Wings. In fact, McCartney’s recording/touring relationship with Wickens goes back over two decades.
All these years of working together has given McCartney more trust of his touring team in the studio. I’m sure it’s not easy working with a living legend. I’m sure his bandmates have peppered McCartney with questions about The Beatles and Wings – who wouldn’t – but after 11 years, those questions have been asked and answered and now these guys are more than just a band. They’re friends; a tight-knit unit whose chemistry is undeniable.
But there are two more ingredients that went into the recording of this rich aural tapestry: the songs themselves and the four producers McCartney worked with. I’ll get to the songs in a moment.
Usually when an artist has more than one producer on an album, it’s because that artist did not get along with the first producer, but still used some of their work. In the case of New, McCartney was looking to do something… well… new! Thus, McCartney auditioned four of the top British producers in the industry with the expectation that he’d choose one. Problem was, he liked them all. Two had lineage to The Beatles – Giles Martin is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and Giles had produced the soundtrack to The Beatles/Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, Love, while Ethan Johns is the son of one-time Beatles engineer Glynn Johns. The wild cards are Mark Ronson, a 38 year-old British DJ, musician and producer and Paul Epworth, a 39 year-old British musician and producer. Ronson and Epworth have produced some of the most successful British artists of the last decade. All four producers helped give McCartney a fresh sound he hasn’t had on a recording in many, many years. And the variety keeps the album sounding fresh and diverse track-by-track.
But without great songs, one can hire the best musicians in the world, a wide variety of instruments and all the talented producers one can find and still fail to produce anything worth a listen.
The songs, themselves, on New are outstanding.
Track by Track
Leading off the album is “Save Us,” a straight-ahead, brisk rocker that lasts just 2:39 and features the most basic rock instruments. The song was co-written with Epworth and written as it was recorded. This is a great McCartney ditty that should become a staple on his next tour, perhaps even a show opener.
Next up is a song called “Alligator,” which was produced by Ronson and is the album’s first foray into diverse instrumentation. One can tell from interviews that this was one of McCartney’s favorite tracks on the album. It’s an up-tempo rocker with a slow/mellow break for the bridge and has good drive to it.
“On My Way to Work” is the third track and is one of my favorites as it is written very cleverly. The second verse introduces us to a woman the singer meets through a magazine; she waterskies and studies history. Then the verse takes a turn and we discover that she’s a centerfold who "had removed her clothes, for the likes of me." This is not something you’d expect from McCartney. After this verse, the song plunges into a plodding march beat reminiscent of Russian trudgery, which sums-up many people’s robotic daily commutes to work. The song also features a string section and Wix playing a soothing accordion during the verses. A great track.
The fourth song is another outstanding piece and the second single from the LP. “Queenie Eye” is another up-tempo rocker driven by McCartney’s piano playing. The hook is unmistakably McCartney and the chorus lyrics refer to a childhood game McCartney used to play. This song will go down as another McCartney classic.
The fifth song on the album is a guitar ballad called “Early Days.” The song is a wistful and nostalgic look back at McCartney’s early days that, after a warm and fuzzy first two verses, takes a turn on the third verse and jabs at revisionist Beatles historians who weren’t there to know “who did what” in the Beatles early days because they simply “weren’t where it was at.” McCartney also recorded his vocals dry, without any effects. One can clearly hear at points that his voice may not be quite what it once was, but at 71 years of age, it’s still damned good and effective at capturing the mood of the song.
The first single and title track of the album is the sixth track. “New” features a ridiculous array of instruments but is carried by harpsichord and Abe Laboriel’s thumping drums. McCartney’s band contribute outstanding harmonies, particularly on the Beach Boys-esque a cappella coda. This track is another example of the classic McCartney ditty and should also become a staple at McCartney’s live shows.
McCartney turns to his ciguitar (cigar box guitar) for some slide work on the next track, “Appreciate.” This track features a McCartney vocal that is dripping in affects. The verses are a bit understated in comparison to the faster and driving chorus and McCartney’s band contribute nice harmonies at times. This song is very atypical of McCartney and his work with Firemen can be plainly heard here. Songs like “Appreciate” keep the album diverse and exciting.
The anthemic “Everybody Out There” follows. This song will be an obvious staple of live shows in 2014 as it is one of the more stripped-down songs on the album and can be easily played live. The call-and-response portions of the song make it an obvious live track. It’s another song with that great McCartney hook.
On New’s ninth track, McCartney breaks out his decades-old reel-to-reel tape recorder to create tape loops the way he did on The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” nearly 50 years ago. The track, “Hosanna,” is a love song with a haunting, almost ethereal sound created with those loops, an acoustic guitar, bass and Abe’s thumping drums. A very unique track that, again, shows the Fireman influence while diversifying the album.
“I Can Bet” kicks off my favorite part of the album – the final three songs of the standard release. This song also features some tape loops, but they’re far more subtle and the track, itself, is a more typical upbeat McCartney rocker driven by the acoustic guitar; until the solo break, which features an almost spacy keyboard solo followed by driving drums. Again, it’s a far different track than anything McCartney’s done recently and a welcome break from the past.
“Looking at Her” is not your mom and dad’s McCartney. This song begins as a nice ballad with some synthesizer programming but takes a heavy electronic turn during the chorus that sounds more like Trent Reznor than Paul McCartney before breaking into a soft Spanish guitar solo. This song is pure brilliance and sounds phenomenal on headphones.
The standard issue album’s last listed track is “Road,” which is stunningly dark and eerie and features no guitars at all. The celeste reminds me of another dark-ish song by Edwyn Collins called “A Girl Like You.” McCartney’s vocals are understated and treated and the keyboard bass on the breaks are such a change of pace from the song that it’s stark and stunning. This is a song I never could’ve imagined McCartney crafting but it’s one of my favorites.
The next two songs are on the “Deluxe Version” of New, though I don’t know why anyone would purchase the standard issue and miss out on two more excellent cuts.
“Turned Out” is a rocker that sounds like it came out of unreleased sessions from George Harrison in the mid- to late-1980s and could easily fit in on Harrison’s Cloud 9 or his Traveling Wilburys albums, until you get to the piano break, which is all McCartney. This is as pleasant a song as you’ll hear on New and it would be a mistake to purchase the album without this song.
“Get Me Out of Here” is a very interesting song in that it is strummed on an acoustic guitar and sung as if it were an old country and western song, but after the first verse, Brian Ray joins in on conga drums and after the second verse, McCartney adds a West African tribal instrument called the ngoni (don’t even ask me how to pronounce it). Somehow the odd combination of instruments works well and the song is quite catchy.
After a 10 second delay, the album’s “hidden track” reveals itself. The piano ballad “Scared” is a simply a typical McCartney piano ballad expressing McCartney’s fear of telling his new girlfriend (now wife) how he really feels about her. It’s a simple and pretty song that seems to end abruptly, like the song can go on but doesn’t and fails to resolve itself.
I conclude with a track that was released only in Japan, “Struggle.” This song could’ve easily been a Firemen track and is a driving electronic song is also somewhat haunting and features McCartney acting almost as a circus caller during the bridge. It’s a good track and I cannot understand why McCartney would leave it off the “Deluxe Version” of the album. It can be found and downloaded (illegally, I suppose) from the internet, so McCartney fans everywhere have it.
In all, these 16 tracks are phenomenal. They are fresh, experimental, powerful, and everything one looking for something new would like to find at any age. With two weeks left to complete your Christmas shopping, if you’re one gift shy for someone you love, New is a great way to fill that stocking!
Happy listening.
