By Sarah Price
When James McCartney took the stage at Liverpool,
England’s famed Cavern Club on April 3, to play music from his new CD, it was a
step he didn’t take lightly. With his
entry into the music world, he knew what he was inviting into his life: high
expectations, comparisons, and criticism. Much of the appraisal of him and his
music has been harsh, particularly in the British press, who seem at once to disparage
him for having a Beatles legacy, and for not living up to it – a standard few
have ever approached.
“It is an adjustment, but I’m actually pretty used
to attention and scrutiny at this point,” he says. “The adjustment comes when
it’s pointed at you, so directly. I knew it would be a change, which is why I
wanted to wait until I felt both myself, and my music, were ready.”
But he says the comparisons don’t bother him.
“No, I’m not concerned really,” he says. “Honestly I
like to embrace it, without either running towards it, or running away from it.
I want to enjoy letting it all unfold, and then just be who I am.”
Born in 1977, the only son of Paul and Linda
McCartney, James was involved with his father’s recordings early on, lending
his spoken voice to the song, “Talk More Talk,” from the album, Press To Play, at the age of eight. Later, he played guitar on 1997’s Flaming Pie and 2001’s Driving Rain.
He knew from an early age that music was where he
was headed, although he says, like most kids, he did also think about being a
fireman or policeman. But by his teens,
his mind was set. With a wide range of
influences, including The Beatles, Kurt Cobain, The
Smiths, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, The Cure, Jimi Hendrix, Hank Williams, and Neil
Young – whose “Old Man” he covers on his current double-CD release, The Complete EP Collection – he launched
himself into music, learning to play several instruments, including the piano,
guitar, and bass, and developing his songwriting skills.
“I usually start with music first, and
then lyrics,” he says of his technique. “But I’m actually trying to go about it
in different ways now, to evolve further. It’s really about whatever works – even
singing nonsense words over a melody until the words begin to take shape.
Sometimes you can get a foothold on something that way, and then you’re off and
running. I’ve often blocked the lyrics out or written them in my notebook too,
sort of like poetry. I also bounce from instrument to instrument to free things
up.”
The Complete EP Collection,
produced by Paul McCartney and David Kahne, is the CD set of two previous digital releases, Available Light and Close at
Hand, plus five bonus tracks. He
plays most of the instruments on his CDs, which, like the influences who helped
shape them, are an amalgam of different genres.
He says he doesn’t “prefer a style per se,
just great music.”
A talented singer and musician, his own style is
effortless and flowing, with alternately catchy and ethereal melodies, and his
voice has a natural sweetness that lends itself well to the vulnerability of
his lyrics. He
also infuses his spirituality into many of his songs.
“I’m really interested
in existential questions, theology, religion, and philosophy,” he says. “And
transcendental meditation is important in my life, as well.”
His questions and subsequent back-and-forth of
settling on answers is evident in his lyrics, which at times sounds like a
stream of consciousness as he tries to work them out, as in “Jesus Be My
Friend:” “Jesus be my friend/I tried to understand/Why God is close at hand/I
don’t understand/Just why you let me down/You never let me down.”
While there is a definite soul-searching and
questioning of the universe in his lyrics, for the most part, the conclusions
he comes to are optimistic, even when it comes to the ongoing emotional fallout
of the loss of his mother.
Linda died in 1998, after a long battle with cancer,
when James was 20, but she has a continued influence not only on his music, but
also his way of life. He says that
Tucson, Arizona, where they spent much of her life, and ultimately, her
passing, is his favorite place. “Aside from it being incredibly beautiful
there,” he says, “it’s a special place for me because of my mum, and the time
we spent there.”
In his song, “Wings of a Lightest Weight,” his
thoughts of her are a melancholy reminiscence that is finally accepting of how
her life ended: “One moment I’m arguing with you/Thinking I could put up a
fight/But I only love you/I love you whoever is right/Then I think to myself/It
couldn’t be any other way.”
He also deals with other internal tugs-of-war, as in
“I Only Want to Be Alone”: “…I’m still on the run/From this place of complete
pretension/All I want is a real life mind/With thoughts that go off in a
tangent.” But the majority of his songs
are embracing of life, and seem to rest on one main theme: we struggle, but we
come back to love, and there is something bigger than us out there, making sure
we’re alright.
Currently on his first North American tour, he says
he looks forward to working on his next CD.
“I’m working on it now actually,” he says, “and I’ll
be recording more this summer. It’ll be my first full-length record, so what I
do next will certainly be different, as an album has a different flow than an
EP, and a different process in making it, too. I’m looking forward to
continuing to evolve musically.
“I guess it’s really something both my
mum and dad each have really impressed upon me,” he adds, “which is that in the
end it’s really all about the songwriting. It’s about the songs.”
But, he says, his personal evolution is important to
him, as well.
“I’d love to feel that I realized my full potential
both as a person, and as a songwriter. That feels like a great, fulfilling goal
to shoot for.”
