The Fireman - Electric ArgumentsPaul McCartney takes a psychedelic
headphone trip
Paul McCartney needs to decide if he
wants to sell a lot of records or if he wants to be taken seriously
again. Last year’s Memory Almost Full, released on
Starbucks' Hear Music imprint, netted him his highest sales in 25
years while taking an artistic step backwards from the subtle majesty
of 2005’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. The songs were
good, but the production severely underestimated the listener’s
willingness to explore. That’s why McCartney’s third
collaboration with uber-producer Youth is such a pleasant surprise.
He’s letting random muses guide him and doesn’t seem to give a
damn what the masses might think. The first two tracks are fiery and
weird—full of the joy for exploration that fueled his most famous
band to uncharted heights of artistic expression. The rest of the
album rests in a new-age dance groove that finds grace among church
bells, barking dogs, sea shanties and pulsating strings—a musical
odyssey, by turns menacing and melodic. When taken alongside recent
successes like Chaos and Creation and his stunning orchestral
piece Ece Cor Meum, Electric Arguments hints that a
late period renaissance could be underway.
Listen to songs from The Fireman's Electric Arguments on the band's MySpace page.