Album comes on the announcement of double A-Side
Just as we finish reporting that Paul McCartney has released a double A-Side featuring music from his upcoming album, we get a press release from his label saying that McCartney will release Egypt Station on September 7th via Capitol Records. The project will be released in a variety of configurations including limited edition Concertina CD and vinyl packaging as well as Super Deluxe limited edition hand number box set featuring bonus tracks.
Sharing a title with one of McCartney’s own paintings, Egypt Station is the first full album of all-new McCartney music since 2013’s international chart-topping NEW. Preceded by two of its tracks just released as double A-sides–plaintive ballad “I Don’t Know” and raucous stomper “Come On To Me” — Egypt Station was recorded between Los Angeles, London and Sussex, and produced (with the exception of one track) by Greg Kurstin (Adele, Beck, Foo Fighters).
“I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’ It reminded me of the ‘album’ albums we used to make.., Egypt Station starts off at the station on the first song and then each song is like a different station,” McCartney says of the project. “So it gave us some idea to base all the songs around that. I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.”
True to the inspiration behind its title, Egypt Station’s 14 songs combine to convey a unique travelogue vibe. Between the opening and closing instrumentals “Station I” and “Station II,” each song finds McCartney capturing a place or moment before transporting the listener seamlessly to the next destination. Stops along the way include an acoustic meditation on present day contentedness (“Happy With You”), a timeless anthem that would fit on virtually any album of any McCartney era (“People Want Peace”), and an epic multi-movement closer clocking in at seven minutes with a song suite structure harkening back to the days of Paul’s previous combos (“Despite Repeated Warnings”). The result is a kaleidoscopic journey through myriad musical locales and eras, yet firmly rooted in the here and now–with Paul’s singular unmistakeable melodic sensibility serving as guide.
Confirmation of Egypt Station’s release puts an end to speculation about a new Paul McCartney album that began with the whiting out of his Instagram account as the former Beatele turned up at various landmarks in Liverpool. The capper was a June 9th surprise gig at Liverpool’s tiny Philharmonic Pub, during which “Come On To Me” was debuted alongside a set of classics spanning McCartney’s career. More details to come.
