Hear ye, hear ye! Sir Paul McCartney and friend (Youth) would like to impart some music to improve your soul! McCartney’s umpteenth record and third cut with Youth under the pseudonym The Fireman, Electric Arguments demonstrates why we all should pay attention to arguably the greatest pop songwriter.

Written and recorded in thirteen days spread over the course of an entire year, Electric Arguments spreads over the musical spectrum with complete disregard for maintaining a specific sound. Some may believe is a lost man trying to find his voice after years of subpar McCartney records and embattled divorce struggles. What you are really hearing is a free man. Free of wives, free of care. Music free of form.

The album explodes with the opener “Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight,” a very active and maximal blues song with vocals more reminiscnent of a man from the Delta than the man who sang “Yesterday.” In a similar blues vein, “Highway” grooves through the verses, contrasted with a simple anthemic chorus. He may be revealing his true feelings about his current state of life with lines like “Oh I’m feelin naked.”

In case the pop-McCartney fans are worried, fear not, as he still manages to create little melodic gems with like the simple “Two Magpies.” Cut with little more than an acoustic guitar, spare drums, and little recording tricks, it sets you at ease on a beachy day. The linked-by-theme-not-by-genre songs “Sing The Changes” and “Lifelong Passion” have an exotic appeal maintained with classic McCartney pop sensibility.

Maybe the most important aspect of this album is McCartney’s partner in crime, producer Youth. The previous Fireman efforts were mainly studio experimentations with electronica. Youth takes the elements of this unsuccessful past and lays the groundwork for many of Electric Arguments songs. He keeps iffy song structure grounded with elements of electronica. Or perhaps the key to the album is the freedom McCartney translates into the songs. The inflections in his singing, the spraying of instumentations throughout each song (all played by Sir Paul), and maybe a little bit of a smoke-hazed studio room all combine to create this body of work.

May this be a lesson to all those that doubt McCartney’s influence on the Beatles’ more psychedelic and adventerous offerings. While late offerings have been questionable, he reminds us of his greatness. Let’s hope he continues on this hazed journey a little longer.

Posted by Ben