Paul McCartney has just released one of the best albums of his solo career-but in LL Cool J's words, \Don't call it a comeback.""
McCartney's last three records number among the best of his solo career, from the Beatlesesque splendor of 1997's Flaming Pie to the scorching fifties rock 'n' roll of Run Devil Run to Driving Rain, a collection of pop/rock gems padded with a bit of filler.
McCartney's latest release, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, nearly betters each one of those records by doing the one thing you might think wouldn't help Paul's music: making it softer. Nothing on Chaos rocks in traditional sense, and nothing other than the bright, bouncy ""Fine Line"" could even be considered danceable pop.
Considering the familiar complaints levied against McCartney by his critics are that his lyrics consistently fixate upon love and that his music is just too easily melodic, this is a bold step-Chaos smacks of everything McCartney that critics like to gripe about, but somehow this album manages to perfectly capture Paul's sentimental, average-guy charisma without falling prey to any of his mushier tendencies.
What's left to us is quiet, delicate acoustic numbers dealing with familiar themes to McCartney: the importance of love, general feelings of wistfulness, and ways of dealing with pain. Add producer Nigel Godrich to that-a star in his own right for his work on Radiohead's OK Computer-and you've got one of the best records to appear this year.
The trick that makes everything work is that McCartney doesn't even attempt to assemble a backing band. He plays most everything found on Chaos-guitar, bass, drums, and piano-and the results are a lean, concise and gorgeous set of songs.
The songs on Chaos point back to the thoughtful, acoustic charm that marked his classic solo debut, McCartney, but more importantly give just cause to believe that McCartney-even at 63-has a vital, relevant solo career stretched out ahead of him.
""Friends to Go"" finds McCartney striking a balance between his youthful energy and his age: he waits with teenage-like anticipation for his lover's friends to leave so they can be alone, yet assures her that ""You never need to worry about me / I'll be fine on my own ... I've spent a lot of time on my own.""
McCartney hasn't shed his youthful exuberance, but with a full life of experience under his belt he's capable of patience, and even comfortable enough with himself to admit ""I've spent a lot of time on my own"" with a somewhat sad resignation.
The same mix of beauty and bittersweet truth marks the album's most affecting track-the haunting and lovely ""Jenny Wren."" ""Like so many girls, Jenny Wren could sing / But a broken heart took her song away,"" McCartney sings, hardly breaking a whisper above his acoustic guitar and its melody. ""She saw poverty, breaking all the home / Wounded warriors, took her song away.""
When a lonely-sounding Armenian woodwind instrument comes in where you'd expect a guitar solo, it becomes clear that on Chaos, McCartney has mastered the art of sublime pop music.
This record is pretty sounding enough to win people over and complex enough to engage the attentive listener. But most importantly, it mixes the reflective and joyful sides of McCartney's character in a way that none of his previous solo albums have.
In short, the cute Beatle has still got it.
