McCartney III Imagined

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 1970s McCartney and 1980s 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 McCartney III doesnt contain a clear undercurrent of Paul processing change in the wake of loss. He doesnt spend the record trying to Find My Way, as he puts it on the albums second song, but rather simply existing, drawing evident pleasure from the process of writing and recording new music. This also means McCartney III doesnt quite have the shock of the new the way that the homespun McCartney and synth-laden McCartney II do; hes not attempting new forms or ideas, instead returning to themes that have served him well over the years, whether theyre plucked acoustic ditties, plaintive piano ballads, or stomping rockers. Execution makes a big difference, though. Where 2018s Egypt Station was designed with the charts specifically in mind -- Paul went so far as to hire producers Greg Kurstin and Ryan Tedder for the record, hoping theyd give him a modern sheen -- McCartney III is constructed at a modest scale, the arrangements so uncluttered that its easy to hear the years on McCartneys voice. Maybe he cant 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, its possible to trace the distance between the three McCartney albums. Despite these signs of age, McCartney III isnt an album about mortality, its about finding sustenance in rough times. McCartney 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 theyre collected as an album, they add up to a charmingly off-kilter record, an album that benefits from its modest origins and McCartneys willingness to not polish too many of his rough edges. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

ポールはどこまでもポールのままである、という自明の事実を改めて知らしめた一人録音作『McCartney III』を豪華な面々が再構築。ベック色が加わって妖艶なダンス・ナンバーに変身した"Find My Way"をはじめ、アンダーソン・パークやクルアンビン、デーモン・アルバーンなどいずれの料理法も原曲の攻めたポップ感を損なわないよう配慮が行き届いており、聴き応え満点。刺激と納得の両方を兼ね備えた良質な姉妹編だ。
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