Criticism: Paul McCartney's "Egypt Station" Shows His Curiosity

The discography of Paul McCartney is among the most impressive of pop. But as he has shown in recent years – his collaborations with Dave Grohl, Kanye West and Rihanna, his marathon concerts – the former Beatles member and forever a member of the highest circles of rock have little interest in being content with his exploits. Station of Egypt, the 76-year-old's 17th solo album (and the first since 2013), puts McCartney's endless curiosity on a showcase of love, instantly balancing the immeasurable moods and intrepid explorations of rock.

McCartney recorded most of Station of Egypt with super-producer Greg Kurstin (Tegan & Sara, Adele, Beck), and their combined good sense makes it such a gratifying album to listen to on stage-sized speakers as close-up. His pop creations benefit from attention to detail and studio knowledge; The delicately moving "Happy With You" accentuates her floating mood with falling guitars and slightly melodic flutes, while the lovely "Hand In Hand" devotes in the sonic space between her regular piano and McCartney slightly scuffed, but immediately recognizable high tenor.

The flirtatious "Come On to Me", on the other hand, combines riffs that are reminiscent of the Beatles 'most villainous material with a bright brass breath (courtesy of Muscle Shoals' horns) and a lively break from "Mrs. Piano Mills, "Abbey Road Steinway who gave" Lady Madonna "her oomph. It's hardly the only moment of the album that reminds the listener of what McCartney was and is, although it's so essential to pop pop that they seem more inevitable than anything else.

Station of Egypt really takes off in its second half. The reverie "Dominoes", the "Tropicalia" tinged with "Back In Brazil" and the resolutely "Do It Now" – the latter a moving call to seize the day that flourishes in a complete orchestral bliss, with harps and snorkel – mesh in a lightning journey through McCartney 's pointillist psyche. The last two tracks, both six minutes and up, two stylistic flights, separated by a brief interlude of frozen choirs and sounds found, gave an ambitious impetus to the epic, with the epic "Always Repeated Warnings" embracing the largesse of prog-pop and "Hunt You Down / Naked / CLink" moving through the styles with the energy of a group that wants to stretch its last reminder to the maximum length. But it's an appropriate closing pattern for Station of Egypt, a document of McCartney's spirit, which remains irrepressible more than five decades after the Beatles' debut.

This appears in the September 17, 2018 issue of TIME.