Paul McCartney has curated an eye-catching lineup of mostly alternative artists for his upcoming album McCartney III Imagined, due April 16 via Capitol Records. On the album, Beck, Dominic Fike, Khruangbin, St. Vincent, Blood Orange, Phoebe Bridgers, Radiohead’s EOB, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak and Massive Attack’s 3D RDN each reinterpret tracks from McCartney’s 2020 album McCartney III.
McCartney III was completely home-made during the COVID-19 lockdown, or as McCartney puts it, recorded in “Rockdown.” It follows his solo debut McCartney (1970) and its sequel McCartney II (1980), which were also home-made and thematically about some form of isolation. The reimagined album is currently available for pre-order. The physical versions, including a gold vinyl, also have a bonus remix by Idris Elba.
R&B singer/rapper Dominic Fike’s rendition of “The Kiss of Venus” is the first track to be released from the record. It takes McCartney’s catchy folk song and turns it into something much more modern-sounding. It’s dynamic cover that turns McCartney’s acoustic guitar picking into an electric guitar riff and adds drums and several additional layers of production. Fike’s vocals are full of soul and show-off an impressive range. Fike put out his debut album What Could Possibly Go Wrong in July 2020 after becoming popular on SoundCloud.
Josh Homme, best known as the frontman for Queens of the Stone Age, made appearances on several prominent livestreams throughout 2020, including Run the Jewels’ Holy Calamavote show in October, the Joe Strummer tribute event and Lolla2020. He and Sharon Van Etten also shared cover of Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny) Bout Peace Love and Understanding.”
Last year, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz shared some songs from a new project called The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows. Gorillaz also put out an album last year called Song Machine, Season One.
Beck was one of the artists to be featured on Song Machine, Season One. He also collaborated with NASA last year on visual album called Hyperspace: A.I. Exploration, which used songs from his 2019 record Hyperspace.
St. Vincent is set to put out a new album called Daddy’s Home in May 2021 and commented she wanted the album to be heavy record that fans of Tool would also like. Contrasting that, she also recently collaborated with John Legend on a headspace meditation playlist.
McCartney III Imagined Tracklist:
1. Find My Way (feat. Beck)
2. The Kiss of Venus (Dominic Fike)
3. Pretty Boys (feat. Khruangbin)
4. Women And Wives (St. Vincent Remix)
5. Deep Down (Blood Orange Remix)
6. Seize The Day (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
7. Slidin’ (EOB Remix)
8. Long Tailed Winter Bird (Damon Albarn Remix)
9. Lavatory Lil (Josh Homme)
10. When Winter Comes (Anderson .Paak Remix)
11. Deep Deep Feeling (3D RDN Remix)
12. Long Tailed Winter Bird (Idris Elba Remix) [Physical release exclusive track]
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