Egypt Station

It would be difficult to think of a recording artist currently working who has less to prove than Paul McCartney. Yet in the past decade alone, the former Wings frontman has released, between stops on a seemingly endless stadium tour, one classical album, one electronic album as The Fireman, and now two contemporary pop albums—all of which have managed to burnish what was already rock’s most unburnishable résumé. His 17th solo effort is casually ambitious power pop, delivered with the ease and confidence of someone who invented it. At 76, McCartney finds hooks in relatable topics such as ditching weed for domestic bliss (“Happy With You”) and weathering petty criticism (“Who Cares”), while “Despite Repeated Warnings” and closer “Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link” each clock in at over six minutes, juggling their moving parts in ways that feel complex but never complicated. Producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters) navigates the middle ground between low-hanging nostalgia and trend-chasing modernity, but the biggest curveball comes courtesy of the Ryan Tedder-helmed “Fuh You”—the Macca song you’ll least want to play around little kids since “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”