The appropriately-named New is the latest album from Paul McCartney, released October 15th. This is his first full album of original material since 2007 – last year’s release, Kisses on The Bottom, was mostly covers. I was very interested to hear what his latest work would be like – music has gone in some very interesting directions in recent years, and major label releases have changed alot in just 6 years. Of course, no one is the master of evolving and changing sounds seamlessly like the creative genius behind Abbey Road, so I was curious indeed to see what this album had in store.

Interestingly, this album reminds me a lot of Duran Duran’s Red Carpet Massacre – not musically, but in terms of direction. Like Massacre, I find New to be one of those albums with a strange dichotomy for me; it’s so catchy, and yet, a departure from the feel I might have expected. This album doesn’t have the same jarring quality as Duran Duran working with Timbaland, of course, but that’s something I’ve noticed in music overall – nothing is jarring anymore. I almost feel like Top 40 music is all being painted with the same bland brush; even unabashed pop seems toned down to me, like it’s all been so strategically designed not to veer away from a corporate concept even slightly. It’s hard for me to express this without it sounding very harsh – this doesn’t mean that I’m not enjoying contemporary music, because far from it – I do enjoy current hits very much. It’s just interesting to me to see where it’s all going. For example, Red Carpet Massacre blew my mind with how bizarre it was, and yet I love it and play it all the time.

So with that being said, I had fun listening to New – my personal favorites on here are “I Can Bet” and “Appreciate”. This album was the soundtrack to my INS appointment, since I was playing it in the car the whole way down to Portland. McCartney’s music has weaved its way through the entirety of my life, and it makes me happy that there continues to be “New” McCartney to enjoy!

Track Listing:

1. Save Us (produced by Paul Epworth)

2. Alligator (produced by Mark Ronson)

3. On My Way To Work (produced by Giles Martin)

4. Queenie Eye (produced by Paul Epworth)

5. Early Days (produced by Ethan Johns)

6. New (produced by Mark Ronson with additional production by Giles Martin)

7. Appreciate (produced by Giles Martin)

8. Everybody Out There (produced by Giles Martin)

9. Hosanna (produced by Ethan Johns)

10. I Can Bet (produced by Giles Martin)

11. Looking At Her (produced by Giles Martin)

12. Road (produced by Paul Epworth)