Paul McCartney works best with a partner – not necessarily a performing one, or even a musical one, just someone who will push him from good enough to great, and occasionally to save him from himself.
| 8 p.m. Thursday, KeyArena in Seattle; $50-$250, sold out. on |
McCartney’s best solo albums generally come from strong collaboration, and his latest, “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard” (Capitol), is no exception. Teaming up with producer Nigel Godrich (of Radiohead fame), McCartney has built his best album since “Flowers in the Dirt,” his 1989 collaboration with Elvis Costello.
The rock icon performs in a sold-out show Thursday in Seattle.
Godrich persuaded McCartney to play all the instruments on “Chaos” himself, as he did on his first solo album, “McCartney,” in 1970 and then on “McCartney II” in 1980. The result is McCartney’s most personal and engaging album in years, filled with delicate rock ballads that push him in a more experimental direction.
“How Kind of You” is the most striking and successful of these experiments, with McCartney’s warm vocals and sweet sentiment surrounded by stark electronic pieces – a piano trill that fades in and out, the occasional guitar chord and handclaps and tambourines that float through the mix.
The piano-and-guitar give-and-take on “Too Much Rain” sounds like latter-day R.E.M., and when McCartney reaches for higher notes than he usually goes for these days, he turns the song into something special. “Anyway” combines vintage McCartney soulfulness with a country blues vibe that would generally come from John Hiatt or Bonnie Raitt.
McCartney’s darker side makes a rare appearance on “Vanity Fair,” but it’s his humor that works best. The first single, “Fine Line,” mixes precision and playfulness in a way that has been missing in McCartney’s recent albums, as does the delightfully proper “English Tea,” on which he seems to skip through lyrics such as “Would you care to sit with me for a cup of English tea? Very twee, very me.”
It’s a tribute to McCartney’s greatness that his 20th solo album still manages to surprise and sound as relevant as his second.
Associated Press
Paul McCartney performs Thursday in Seattle.
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