New | Page 11 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

So now that I’ve heard the full album, these are my thoughts:

First off, it’s clear that Paul’s work with multiple young producers this time around is closely tied to a desire to embrace musical modernity. To my ears, the only song which wilfully evokes a Beatlesque sound is the title track. Other than that, New is what you might describe as “aggressively contemporary,” clearly influenced by a variety of current popular music, with mixed results.

I’ll get the worst bits out of the way first: “Everybody Out There” is one of those “rally the troops” stadium anthems that Paul occasionally rolls out and it’s quite frankly leaden, meaningless and embarrassing. It’s also unfortunate that the album’s opener, “Save Us”, is one of the record’s serious missteps in trying to sound current; it’s a propulsive rocker with an urgent indie riff that sounds exactly like the Strokes, but such an inherently youthful energy doesn’t sit well with Paul’s voice or delivery.

“Alligator” and “On My Way to Work”, however, are an excellent redeeming double-punch, both catchy tunes full of crunchy, brooding riffs straight out of recent Arctic Monkeys material. Some of the lines in “Alligator” call to mind Alex Turner’s lyrical style too, particularly the snappy, suggestive “I need somebody who’s a sweet communicator I can give my alligator to.” The pounding piano of “Queenie Eye ” has strong hints of the Scissor Sisters and is another of the album’s zeitgeist-riding successes, even if it relies a little too heavily on chanting rather than tunefulness (more on this later).

The album’s production is extremely dense and eclectic, and I would align the record with Chaos and Creation and Electric Arguments in the sense that there’s a heavy focus on atmosphere; many of New’s tracks are built on beds of electronic noise or disappear suddenly into washes of psychedelia. The two tracks that really push the boat out in terms of sound are “Road” and “Appreciate.” The former is a twisting, turning mood piece very reminiscent of the Fireman’s excursions into trippier territory. The latter is one of the album’s best tracks and certainly the most adventurous; an eerie, skittering trip-hop groove that could be Portishead or Radiohead. It’s pleasing to hear Paul getting in touch with his Fireman side again; not only because it shows he’s willing to push the boundaries a little, but because it’s frankly more interesting for the general public than the straight-up pop they might expect to hear on a new McCartney record. In fact, the only genuine foray into straight-up pop other than “New” is “I Can Bet”, a slice of bouncy, Wings-flavoured disco-rock, and even that ends in an ominous stew of tape loops and feedback.

Shockingly, however, this primacy of atmosphere seems to be compromising his usually impeccable melody writing skills a little too often for my liking. I think most Beatles and McCartney fans are reassured by the idea that with Paul you can always expect a solid, inventive tune. When Mark Ronson bigged up “Hosanna” in interviews about the album, the first thing I thought was “I bet it has an achingly beautiful melody.” Maybe that was presumptuous of me, but on my first listen I couldn’t help but feel just a little disappointed in that respect. The same goes for “Early Days .” They’re both good songs that use Paul’s more aged voice to great advantage, but they’re not nearly as melodically arresting as I would have hoped. The hidden track “Scared”, again much hyped as a heartbreaking piano ballad, seems rather Paul-by-numbers, an inferior rewrite of “This Never Happened Before” from Chaos.

Overall though, I’m pretty pleased; “New” as a first single disappointed me hugely and had me worried about what was to come, but I’m glad Paul has made a diverse, experimental and forward-looking record without trying to draw too much on his Beatle past. Working with Youth has clearly taught him a few things.