On the same day he announced the new Egypt Station album, McCartney updated his Facebook profile pic
Update (Sept. 16): Billboard has announced that Paul McCartney’s new album, Egypt Station, will make its chart debut at #1, his first album to top the charts in the United States since 1982’s Tug of War and his first ever to open at the coveted # 1 position. The album sold the equivalent of 153,000 units (today’s charts incorporate streams). Remarkably, Egypt Station is only the third McCartney album not by the Beatles or Wings to reach that lofty position in the U.S.
Our Egypt Station timeline:
On the same day (June 20) that Paul McCartney released a double A-sided single, he revealed further details of his new studio album, Egypt Station. On June 28, its release date of Sept. 7 was announced.
On August 14, he finally revealed the complete 16-song track listing (up from the original 14 that were originally announced. See the complete list below).
A third song, “Fuh You,” was released on August 15. Watch the lyric video below, with the catchy “I just wanna know how you feel” chorus.
Sharing a title with one of his own paintings, Egypt Station is the first full album of all-new McCartney music since 2013’s New. As with the instantly catchy “Come On To Me” and the sweet ballad “I Don’t Know,” the album was recorded in Los Angeles and the U.K. (at London’s Abbey Road Studios, and Sussex), and produced (with the exception of one track) by Greg Kurstin (Adele, Beck, Foo Fighters).
Related: McCartney’s Freshen Up tour opens: Recap
Watch McCartney and Jimmy Fallon on September 6, the day before the album’s release date
Order Egypt Station in the U.S.: CD, single LP and a limited edition deluxe 2-LP. with tri-gatefold packaging and two bonus instrumental tracks. U.K: CD and LP.
Watch the lyric video for “Fuh You,” released on August 15
McCartney offered some insight into the “raunchy love song”: “With this one I was in the studio with Ryan Tedder whereas the rest of the album has been made with Greg Kurstin… We were just thinking of ideas and little pieces of melody and chords and the song just came together bit by bit. And then I would try and make some kind of sense of the story. So it was like ‘Come on baby now. Talk about yourself. Tell the truth, let me get to know you’ and basically I wanna know how you feel, you make me wanna go out and steal. I just want it for you. So that was the basic idea and it developed from there… sort of a love song, but a raunchy love song. There you go – fuh you.”
Listen to the upbeat “Who Cares”
Of the album’s title, Paul said in the announcement, “I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’ It reminded me of the ‘album’ albums we used to make. Egypt Station starts off at the station on the first song and then each song is like a different station. So it gave us some idea to base all the songs around that. I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.”
Listen to McCartney sing about his bromance with his guitar on “Confidante”
On June 28, McCartney shared a photo taken during the Abbey Road Studios recording sessions in 2017
Paul McCartney at London’s Abbey Road Studios, 2017
Watch the lyric video for “Come On To Me”
Egypt Station Track Listing
Opening Station
I Don’t Know
Come On To Me
Happy With You
Who Cares
Fuh You
Confidante
People Want Peace
Hand in Hand
Dominoes
Back in Brazil
Do it Now
Caesar Rock
Despite Repeated Warnings
Station II
Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link
Watch the video for “Back in Brazil,” released on September 17
More from the original album announcement: “Egypt Station’s 14 songs combine to convey a unique travelogue vibe. Between the opening and closing instrumentals “Station I” and “Station II,” each song finds Paul capturing a place or moment before transporting the listener seamlessly to the next destination. Stops along the way include an acoustic meditation on present day contentedness (“Happy With You”), a timeless anthem that would fit on virtually any album of any McCartney era (“People Want Peace”), and an epic multi-movement closer clocking in at seven minutes with a song suite structure harkening back to the days of Paul’s previous combos (“Despite Repeated Warnings”).
“The result is a kaleidoscopic journey through myriad musical locales and eras, yet firmly rooted in the here and now–with Paul’s singular unmistakeable melodic sensibility serving as guide.”
Watch the lyric video for “I Don’t Know”
As Best Classic Bands reported extensively, McCartney teased the upcoming release on a daily basis, beginning June 9, the day he was spotted in his hometown of Liverpool visiting his childhood home and other Beatles-related sites, which formed the basis of a taping of “Carpool Karaoke” with James Corden.
On July 3, he announced the first dates – in Canada – of his 2018 “Freshen Up” tour. Since then, he’s added shows in the U.S., U.K., Europe and Japan. Tickets are available here and here.
The former Beatle, who turned 76 on June 18, has been on a whirlwind dash with well-publicized private concerts at London’s Abbey Road Studios and at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, among the many activities. On September 7, the new album’s release date, McCartney performed at New York’s Grand Central Station for a concert that was streamed live on YouTube.
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationDon’t you think they are taking the p*** with the price of the Vinyl albums? Your not that skint are you Paul?