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McCartney III
McCartney III in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $27.99
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Size: Audio CD
Paul McCartney
faced the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 like he faced so many other unexpected challenges in his life: he set out to make music on his own. The title of
McCartney III
positions it as a direct sequel to 1970's
McCartney
and 1980's
McCartney II
, albums he made in the wake of the respective dissolutions of
the Beatles
and
Wings
, a sentiment that rings true in some ways but not in others. Certainly, the one-man-band approach unites all three albums, as does their arrival at the dawn of a new decade, yet
doesn't contain a clear undercurrent of
Paul
processing change in the wake of loss. He doesn't spend the record trying to "Find My Way," as he puts it on the album's second song, but rather simply existing, drawing evident pleasure from the process of writing and recording new music. This also means
doesn't quite have the shock of the new the way that the homespun
and synth-laden
do; he's not attempting new forms or ideas, instead returning to themes that have served him well over the years, whether they're plucked acoustic ditties, plaintive piano ballads, or stomping rockers. Execution makes a big difference, though. Where 2018's
Egypt Station
was designed with the charts specifically in mind --
went so far as to hire producers
Greg Kurstin
Ryan Tedder
for the record, hoping they'd give him a modern sheen --
is constructed at a modest scale, the arrangements so uncluttered that it's easy to hear the years on
's voice. Maybe he can't hit the high notes he way he used to, maybe he sounds a bit weathered, but the change in his singing has a profoundly humanizing effect, especially when heard in conjunction with his distinctive drumming and fuzzed-out guitars. Within these contours, it's possible to trace the distance between the three McCartney albums. Despite these signs of age,
isn't an album about mortality, it's about finding sustenance in rough times.
nods to sadness and loneliness on "Deep Deep Feeling" and conjures a fleeting sense of wistfulness on "Pretty Boys," then balances these moments of sadness with the sweet "The Kiss of Venus," the sugar-coated rallying call "Seize the Day," and the vulgar jabs of "Lavatory Lil." Individually, these moments may not seem particularly eccentric, yet when they're collected as an album, they add up to a charmingly off-kilter record, an album that benefits from its modest origins and
's willingness to not polish too many of his rough edges. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
faced the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 like he faced so many other unexpected challenges in his life: he set out to make music on his own. The title of
McCartney III
positions it as a direct sequel to 1970's
McCartney
and 1980's
McCartney II
, albums he made in the wake of the respective dissolutions of
the Beatles
and
Wings
, a sentiment that rings true in some ways but not in others. Certainly, the one-man-band approach unites all three albums, as does their arrival at the dawn of a new decade, yet
doesn't contain a clear undercurrent of
Paul
processing change in the wake of loss. He doesn't spend the record trying to "Find My Way," as he puts it on the album's second song, but rather simply existing, drawing evident pleasure from the process of writing and recording new music. This also means
doesn't quite have the shock of the new the way that the homespun
and synth-laden
do; he's not attempting new forms or ideas, instead returning to themes that have served him well over the years, whether they're plucked acoustic ditties, plaintive piano ballads, or stomping rockers. Execution makes a big difference, though. Where 2018's
Egypt Station
was designed with the charts specifically in mind --
went so far as to hire producers
Greg Kurstin
Ryan Tedder
for the record, hoping they'd give him a modern sheen --
is constructed at a modest scale, the arrangements so uncluttered that it's easy to hear the years on
's voice. Maybe he can't hit the high notes he way he used to, maybe he sounds a bit weathered, but the change in his singing has a profoundly humanizing effect, especially when heard in conjunction with his distinctive drumming and fuzzed-out guitars. Within these contours, it's possible to trace the distance between the three McCartney albums. Despite these signs of age,
isn't an album about mortality, it's about finding sustenance in rough times.
nods to sadness and loneliness on "Deep Deep Feeling" and conjures a fleeting sense of wistfulness on "Pretty Boys," then balances these moments of sadness with the sweet "The Kiss of Venus," the sugar-coated rallying call "Seize the Day," and the vulgar jabs of "Lavatory Lil." Individually, these moments may not seem particularly eccentric, yet when they're collected as an album, they add up to a charmingly off-kilter record, an album that benefits from its modest origins and
's willingness to not polish too many of his rough edges. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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