ARTIST: Paul McCartney
ALBUM: NEW
LABEL: Hear Music
RELEASE DATE: October 11, 2013
The New Paul
Written by Silas Valentino
Paul McCartney is one of the most revered architects in the field of crafting love songs. From the sharp sadness of “For No One” to the epic “Baby I’m Amazed,” McCartney has been there like a Hallmark card for those moments when saying “I love you” can’t quite cut it. But he’s old—like 71-years-old old. He’s been through a lot of love since he originally saw her standing there. New are the sounds of fresh love rolling down the window. McCartney was recently remarried for the third time to an east coast businesswoman, Nancy Shevell, and she has Macca singing like he’s just seen a face again.
New can bounce around giddy and loose (“Alligator,” “New”) and then have its reigns pulled to a nostalgic halt (“On My Way to Work,” “Early Days”) within its roughly 45 minutes of contemporary rock. McCartney worked with four separate producers throughout the New sessions, most notably Paul Epworth of Adele fame and Giles Martin, son of legendary Beatles producer Sir. George Martin. The album’s production is clear and masterful, but would you expect anything else from the man who wrote “Yesterday?”
In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, McCartney touched on his legacy and how he views himself. “I just don’t wanna get smug—but of course on the other hand, I want to think I’m great. Because when the hell am I going to bask in this? What am I going to do, wait till I die and go, ‘Oh fuck, I should have taken a week!’” He’s well past the age of 64 and McCartney is treading into unfamiliar waters of elderhood. With a new wife and his nine-year-old daughter, Sir Paul begins to untangle the messy feelings of growing old and the outcome sounds pretty dang good.
“Save Us” begins McCartney’s 16th solo album with a roar and beat. Using a razor-edged guitar riff, McCartney bangs around a quick ditty about harnessing vitality through love.
The past has never sounded as cheery as it does in “Early Days,” a song that will surely have you looking out in a gaze of wonder swimming through an old shoebox of memories. McCartney’s voice sounds raw and honest as he spills his guts about the Beatles’ early days with their “hair slicked back with Vaseline, like the pictures on the wall of the local record shop.” The long and winding road continues its progression and McCartney is along for the ride. He does, though, get in a jab at critics and historians who pretend to know more about his past than he does: “Now everybody seems to have their own opinion/ Who did this and who did that/ But as for me I don’t see how they can remember/ When they weren’t where it was at.”
Titles track “New” could very well be “Got to Get You into My Life” pt. II. It’s jubilant harpsichord melody and sunny day mentality would serve as the ultimate radio alarm in the morning. The last 30 seconds of the track sound like McCartney sat through the entire outtake sections of the Beach Boy’s SMiLE and decided he could too.
A Paul McCartney album released in 2013 could have very well been the noises of a formerly great artist splashing around in their own filth, but instead New is superb. There’s a reason Paul McCartney is still one of the world’s greatest and the secrets to his success are scattered throughout this album.