Not many musicians could justifiably call a track ‘Ever Present Past’ (or, even, an album ‘Memory Almost Full’), but if there’s one who can, it’s Paul McCartney. The events of the last 12 months alone, you’d imagine, before you even consider his former life as – well, you know – would leave little space left in anyone’s mind. Where this now 64-year-old must look these days for fresh inspiration is anyone’s guess.
The answer comes partly from the fact that he actually began work on this, his twenty first solo album, back in 2003 (prior, even, to 2005’s Nigel Godrich-produced ‘Chaos And Creation In The Backyard’). But it’s mainly because, by his own admission, Macca is here being ‘purposefully retrospective’ – thinking of his mother (‘Only Mama Knows’), wondering, ‘When was that summer when the skies were blue?’ (‘You Tell Me’), and comparing himself and his generation to ‘Vintage Clothes’. The result, while still not likely to satisfy those who can’t abide his maudlin excesses, is his most invigorated, charming record in a long time, and one smattered with enough moments of goodness to remind us all just who we’re dealing with here.
