The sounds of a train station flow into forty seconds or so of chorus voices on “Opening Station,” the kick off track of Paul McCartney’s 17th solo album, Egypt Station. The piano-led ballad “I Don’t Know” follows and the singer asks “what is wrong” with a relationship he is lamenting. By the time we are into the lullaby-like chorus, we are floating on the kind of melody making of which this man is an expert.
There are the raucous metallic strikes and simple big trashy drum beats on “Come On To Me.” The lyric is a little sly coming from someone McCartney’s age, but the tune rocks and the added harmonica and horns light up the apparent fun the ex-Beatle is having. “People Want Peace,” seems a bit obvious, but it boasts one of McCartney’s best vocals, and is hard not to stomp and clap along to. “Hand In Hand,” another piano ballad, has some sweet if not rough vocals with strings atop it. The bossa nova beat to “Back In Brazil” sees some of the simplest yet most effective production of sounds on all of Egypt Station.
With Greg Kurstin of Adele’s “Hello” fame producing all the songs except one, there is an immediacy to the songwriting and not so much clutter to the sound. “Despite Repeated Warnings” a seven-minute suite, is the big statement, both lyrically and musically. It’s similar to “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” starting with plodding keys with the refrain of “what can we do” underscoring McCartney’s calling out of Trump. The song builds before shifting into a more straight-ahead rocker (and the lyric gets a bit trite) with some swinging horn interplay. Frankly, this would have been better served had it been shorter.
Anytime we get a new Paul McCartney album we need to take notice. The man is still a masterful tunesmith, gathers fantastic musicians around him, knows how to pluck the right producer to helm his ship, and he can still write powerful rock and roll songs alongside ballads. In a day and age when most of his peers stick to the road, playing the hits, Paul McCartney still wants to make new music. Egypt Station shows he’s willing to take chances while keeping it all within a temperate, melodic framework that is so very much his own.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
