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Paul McCartney (or Sir Paul McCartney if you want to be that guy) has danced around through different genres for over fifty years.
He’s done the blues thing, the pop thing, and the rock thing and he’s dipped his fingers in the electric pool. Now, in 2012 he’s broke into a genre we always kind of expected him to get into eventually. “Kisses on the Bottom” is an easy-listening jazz/pop album full of pre-rock pop song covers and Paul’s whimsical vocals, which haven’t deteriorated over the decades (not too much, anyway).
McCartney, himself, describes the album as something “you listen to when you come home from work.” It’s that kind of slow, jazzy upbeat music that exists permanently in the background not hurting anyone or exciting anyone. Listening to it and thinking about McCartney it’s easy to get the feeling that this is exactly where he should be. There’s no need for the proto-metal shredding of “Helter Skelter” at 69 years old and there’s no need for experimental compositions like “Uncle Albert/Admiral Hadley” or “Band on the Run.” Now is a time of seasoned compositions that float easily around the room slowly pushing good feelings around the air.
Of course, I can’t see anybody calling this an important album in popular music, nor do I think it’s supposed to be. If you give it a fair chance and aren’t looking for anything special from it there’s no reason you won’t enjoy it. It doesn’t rock your face off and it doesn’t change everything forever like a Beatles song but it gets your foot in a tap and your head in a soft nod in that casual way Paul McCartney has.
