Kisses on the Bottom
Mercury
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More than 35 years ago, Paul McCartney asked the world if we needed silly love songs. The masses responded with a resounding yes, as the ex-Beatle continued his success with the band Wings and a solo career full of pop and classical compositions. With Kisses on the Bottom, McCartney offers us his most whimsical offering yet.
Those thinking this release is merely cashing in on a genre the likes of Rod Stewart and Seal recently took to fame are mistaken. For one thing, McCartney has already reached the musical mountain top with The Beatles; the rest of the time he has been busy following his muse.
For such classic artists, Kisses on the Bottom finds McCartney going back to a bygone era of American songwriting, namely the 1930s and 1940s, as he lovingly details long lost tracks by the likes of old-school luminaries such as Fats Waller, Harold Arlen and Cole Porter.
In fact, the album's title comes from a lyric on his warm take on Waller's I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter. Backed by Diana Krall and her band, McCartney was in the rare position of standing in the vocal booth without an instrument.
The new-found focus on his singing allows for fine vocal nuances to appear on It's Only a Paper Moon and Get Yourself Another Fool. It's truly a new shade of the singer we have never seen before, proving the old master still has new tricks.
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