Hot on the heels of Egypt Station, Paul McCartney’s first US No. 1 album in 36 years (1982’s Tug Of War, Macca’s highly anticipated first album following the tragic December 1980 murder of close friend and fellow Beatle bandmate John Lennon was his last), comes the surprise New Year’s Day single release “Get Enough” from January 1st, 2019. Recorded with assistance from American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer extraordinaire Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, it is the third track McCartney and Tedder worked on together during the sessions that produced the Egypt Station album (“Fuh You” was included on the general album release with bonus track “Nothing For Free” appearing on the Target exclusive limited edition version).
Anyone familiar with McCartney’s fondness for American music enfant terrible David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors not to mention his chart topping 2015 Top 5 collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West on the triple platinum selling “FourFiveSeconds” single shouldn’t be the least bit surprised with the way in which the former Beatle embraces modern recording techniques on his latest single, especially with regards to the vocal track. No stranger to experimentation (McCartney’s infamous private homemade tape deck sound collages date back 50 plus years to 1966 not to mention his near 20 year old Liverpool Sound Collage album, three electronic music Fireman albums and five singles with Killing Joke founding member Youth) McCartney’s fondness for electronically altering his familiar octave jumping tenor vocals dates back 40 odd years to the “Coming Up” single from his 1980 McCartney II solo album.
What starts off as a simple quietly contemplative piano ballad quickly crescendos within its brief 2 minutes and fifty eight seconds into an impassioned proclamation of (what else in McCartney’s case?) love, love for the girl McCartney can’t quite get enough of. Complete with coda possibly inspired by the final passage of Canadian cult band Klaatu’s anti hit single “Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft” from their 1976 3:47 EST debut album (at the time strongly rumoured to be the work of an anonymously reformed Beatles) “Get Enough” is not just another silly love song, it is a testament to an artist’s enduring relevance in an era 50 years passed what is commonly considered to be the man’s crowning achievement, his contribution to a body of work left behind by the most important band in the history of pop music. A real treat!
Rating 8.5/10
Star Rating 4/5
Check out Klaatu’s “Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft” near the 5:48 minute mark for the “Get Enough” coda comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9URM_5R-vWk
2019 Song Of The Day Club 1/52