Egypt Station

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Track list

Disc 1

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About

From Wikipedia:

Egypt Station is the 17th solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released by Capitol Records on 7 September 2018.

Egypt Station was produced by Greg Kurstin, with the exception of one track produced by Ryan Tedder. The album is McCartney’s first studio release on Capitol Records since 2005’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, and it is the first release since his 2013 album New.

The album’s first (double A-side) single, consisting of the two songs “I Don’t Know” and “Come On to Me“, was released on 20 June 2018.

The name “Egypt Station” is shared by one of McCartney’s paintings from 1988, from which the cover art is derived.

Recording

Egypt Station was recorded in studios in Los Angeles, London, and Sussex. McCartney began working with producer Greg Kurstin some time after the release of his 2013 album New, and mentioned their working together several times leading up to 20 June 2018 announcement of Egypt Station‘s release.

McCartney also recorded three songs with Ryan Tedder. One of the songs, “Fuh You”, is included on the album.

Composition

Egypt Station contains 16 tracks, including opening and penultimate instrumentals entitled “Opening Station” and “Station II” respectively. Tracks include the singles “I Don’t Know” and “Come On to Me“, “Happy with You”, described as “acoustic meditation on present day contentedness”, “People Want Peace”, called a “timeless anthem that would fit on virtually any album of any McCartney era”, and “an epic multi-movement closer” called “Despite Repeated Warnings”.

Additional tracks that were revealed by producer Greg Kurstin in a Rolling Stone interview are “Confidante”, “Back in Brazil”, “Fuh You”, and “Hunt” or “Hunt You Down”.

On the inspiration for the album’s title and theme, McCartney said:

“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.”

In the promotional event “Casual Conversation” (see below), McCartney further clarified his creative process behind recording Egypt Station and described it as a “concept album”.

Promotion

On 10 June 2018, all content was removed from McCartney’s Instagram page. That day, all of McCartney’s social media pages began posting cryptic photos of symbols and McCartney playing various instruments, fueling speculation of an impending announcement. The title Egypt Station was first announced on 18 June 2018, McCartney’s 76th birthday. One day later, McCartney officially announced the release of the album’s first (double A-side) single, consisting of the two songs “I Don’t Know” and “Come On to Me“. The two songs were released on 20 June 2018. The same day, McCartney’s website officially announced the title and release date of Egypt Station, also providing information on the album’s recording and creative process.

After years of rumoured persuasion, McCartney agreed to film a “Carpool Karaoke” segment for The Late Late Show with James Corden in Liverpool on 9 June 2018. As part of the segment, McCartney performed a small gig at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Dining Rooms, where he played “Come On to Me” live for the first time. The segment was broadcast the week of 17 June in conjunction with the release of Egypt Station’s first single. An extended version of the segment, titled When Corden Met McCartney (Live from Liverpool), was broadcast by CBS on 20 August, 2018.

On 3 July, the Freshen Up tour was announced through the official McCartney website. The tour will be starting on 17 September in Quebec City, Canada.

On 19 July, McCartney posted an image on his Instagram asking fans “Why do you think you should attend a secret event in London with Paul next week?” Fans were asked to “post a short video using the hashtag #UnderTheStaircase”. The winners of the contest were treated to a secret concert at Abbey Road Studios with a number of other celebrity guests in attendance. The set list included four songs off of the upcoming album including “Come On to Me”, and the live debuts of “Confidante”, “Fuh You” and a song that had been previously unmentioned, called “Who Cares”. Later the same week McCartney played a surprise concert at The Cavern Club in Liverpool.

On 25 July, McCartney held a talk titled “Casual Conversation” at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA). Moderated by Jarvis Cocker, the event was livestreamed on Facebook and he answered questions from LIPA students as well as viewers online.

On 15 August, McCartney released “Fuh You” as the second single from the album.

On 7 September, to celebrate the launch of the album, McCartney performed a “secret” concert at Grand Central Station that was live-streamed on YouTube.

Tracklist taken from the official McCartney page. All tracks written by Paul McCartney, except “Fuh You” by Paul McCartney and Ryan Tedder. All tracks produced by Greg Kurstin, except “Fuh You” and “Nothing for Free” by Tedder and Zach Skelton.

From paulmccartney.com, December 23, 2017:

What would you like to achieve in 2018?

I’ll probably be putting out a new album. So, I’d like that to be something I really love and then hopefully the fans will love it too! We’re putting the finishing touches to it now and at the beginning of next year. So, I would like to achieve making that a really great album. Fingers crossed! That’s not what it’s called, but fingers crossed! [Pauses] It could be… it COULD be the new album title!

Paul McCartney

From paulmccartney.com, June 20, 2018:

Paul invites you on a musical journey to Egypt Station, estimated time of arrival Friday 7th September 7, 2018 by way of Capitol Records.

Sharing a title with one of Paul’s own paintings, Egypt Station is the first full album of all-new McCartney music since 2013’s international chart-topping NEW. Preceded by two of its tracks just released as double A-sides – plaintive ballad ‘I Don’t Know‘ and raucous stomper ‘Come On To Me‘ – Egypt Station was recorded between Los Angeles, London and Sussex, and produced (with the exception of one Ryan Tedder track) by Greg Kurstin (Adele, Beck, Foo Fighters).

Of the forthcoming album’s enigmatic title, Paul says, “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.”

True to the inspiration behind its title, 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 and lyrical sensibility serving as a guide.

Confirmation of Egypt Station’s release puts an end to speculation about a new Paul McCartney album that began with the whiting out of his Instagram account as Paul turned up at various landmarks in Liverpool. The capper was a 9th June surprise gig at Liverpool’s tiny Philharmonic Pub, during which ‘Come On To Me’ was debuted alongside a set of classics spanning Paul’s career. Further details to come…

From DIY, June 19, 2018:

[…] Speaking about his forthcoming new release, which was in part inspired when McCartney was compiling the 50th anniversary re-release of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, he told us: “I remember going up to the studio a couple of times and saying, oh well I was listening to this programme last night and I thought on ‘Penny Lane’ it was just one piano that I played but it turns out it’s eight! We were goofing around on that, and it inspires you and makes you think you can go anywhere. It’s still gonna sound like a piano, but sonically you can play with it. ‘…Pepper’ was a big influence.” […]

Egypt Station artwork

The album artwork was based upon a painting by Paul McCartney, entitled “Egypt Station”. From McCartney Art website:

My original inspiration was similar to a picture we were talking about the other day, with Egyptian symbols and shapes I got from looking at a reference book on Egypt. I was interested in the way they drew sunflowers, so two appear on the left and on the right. It was a nice shape, so I took that and then I also love the way they symbolize trees. I like the way they reduce a tree to just some very simple symbols.

Paul McCartney

Greg Kurstin interview, from Rolling Stone, July 3, 2018:

The album has 16 songs. Were more recorded?

Oh, yeah. There’s like 20-something songs that are recorded.

Will they come out in some form?

I have a feeling they will be released in some way at some point. We live in a time now where things are released digitally. I think they’ll have a use for everything. We finished pretty much every song that we put on the table. I think there’s 20, but there could be as many as 25.

Last updated on November 8, 2023