McCartney began by recording the instrument on which he wrote the song, then adding further layers. The song has a surprising emotional power-like a flip side to “When I’m 64,” with Paul looking back from the edge of 78.McCartney III was recorded in early 2020 at McCartney's studio in Sussex, England while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. At first, it sounds like a farmer’s almanac of chores, like “Must dig a drain by the carrot patch.” But it’s also a portrait of late-life domestic bliss, with two elderly lovers warming their toes by the fire, forced by winter to stay indoors and delight in each other. He ends with “When Winter Comes,” a hard-bitten tale of farm life. It peaks high with “The Kiss of Venus,” a pastoral romance that floats like an updated “Mother Nature’s Son,” as he hits poignant high notes in his superbly weathered voice. McCartney III has that same stripped-down touch - the only duds come when he turns up the synths and tries to rock out. McCartney II came right after the final Wings album, the underrated Back to the Egg it had a genuinely nutty Number One hit with “Coming Up” and the lost gem “Temporary Secretary,” which sat unnoticed for decades until the world suddenly decided it was brilliant. McCartney came right after Abbey Road, as he shrugged off the Beatles with acoustic ditties like “Every Night” and “The Lovely Linda,” recorded at home on his spiffy new tape machine. McCartney III isn’t ambitious like Egypt Station - like his first two self-titled solo statements, it’s a spontaneous palate-cleanser after a labored studio project. And ever since Chaos and Creation, he’s been writing brilliant songs to match. Until the pandemic slowed his roll touring-wise, he was slaying live crowds every night with his best band since the Fab Four. He’s never wanted to settle for being a nostalgia artist - that’s always set him apart from his generational peers. His current hot streak began with Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, his 2005 Nigel Godrich collabo, which slipped between the cracks at the time but now stands as a major turning point in his story. It was his first chart-topper since Tug of War in 1982, setting a new record for the longest stretch between Number One albums. Egypt Station was also a Number One hit, and never think for a moment Macca doesn’t take that to heart. It’s just been two years since the excellent Egypt Station, one of his finest solo records ever, with the Alex Chilton-style guitar meditation “Dominoes,” definitely an all-time top ten Paul solo classic.
McCartney’s been on a songwriting roll in recent years. Paul hasn’t sounded so rustic since his earliest solo days, from “Mary’s Got a Little Lamb” to “Junior’s Farm” to “Mull of Kintyre.” When he sings about sheep and chickens, you know he means actual sheep and chickens, not metaphors. Back in the Seventies, one of his Wings bandmates called him “just a farmer who plays guitar,” and that’s the vibe he’s going for here. Macca wrote, played and produced McCartney III himself, with plenty of his folksy finger-picking.
It’s the warmest and friendliest of quarantine albums - it’s basically Ram meets Folklore. Like the rest of us, he’s been in lockdown, hanging out on his daughter’s farm, grandchildren on his knee, strumming his acoustic guitar in the English summer sun. He’s not sweating about being a legend, a genius, or a Beatle - just a family man kicking back in quarantine, writing a few songs to keep his juices flowing. Like its two predecessors, it’s Macca at his most playful. McCartney III carries on his tradition of homemade solo records, in the mode of his acoustic 1970 debut and his 1980 synth-pop oddity McCartney II. Every decade should kick off with a Paul McCartney one-man-band album - and this one needs it more than most.