Paul McCartney performs at BC Place in Vancouver Nov. 25, 2012.Jeff Vinnick/The Globe and Mail
New
By Paul McCartney, from the forthcoming New (Universal); streaming here
You'd think the world would have had enough of silly love songs, but Paul McCartney looks around and sees that it isn't so, oh no. His new song doesn't break fresh ground, even if it was produced by the hot-shot British DJ/producer Mark Ronson, and even if the track is actually called New. The song is a sample of the 71-year-old's forthcoming album (also called New), which is set to drop mid-October. The tune bounces along sweetly, with a Beatle-y harpsichord sound up front. "You came along and made my life a song," McCartney sings, almost definitely about current wife Nancy Shevell. But if the love is contemporary, the music itself is a magical history tour down not only Penny Lane but memory lane, too, with the outro full of pure harmonizing in the style of the Beach Boys. McCartney feels reborn, but the sound is decidedly retro. Either way, the vibrations are good.
Brad Wheeler