Released on 29/08/05
Label: Parlophone

It should be pointed out straight off that Sir Paul McCartney has not suddenly decided to swap his trademark cheery chug for esoteric, existential atmospherics of the paranoid kind. Just in case you were worried.

"Fine Line" may be the first fruit of his collaboration with Radiohead cohort, producer Nigel Godrich, but Macca's managed to resist going the way of the Oxford worriers and instead delivers, surprise surprise, a jaunty chug of cheer and words of father-to-child wisdom. Yet it also happens to be the best thing he's done since 1989's "My Brave Face". While Godrich's influence may not have prompted a wild departure, he has helped to strip back the nauseating double-thumbs-up caricature and distil the essential McCartney traits.

The "Lady Madonna" style piano, the sudden shifts from major to minor and the string quartet at the close, all hark back to Beatles-era Macca. It's about hammering out a simple melody, banging away on a guitar and a piano and coming up with a cracking little tune. Job done.

    by Dan Gennoe