Paul McCartney has announced that he is releasing a new solo album, entitled Ocean’s Kingdom, his first solo studio effort since 2007’s Memory Almost Full. It is likely to be a little different to previous work, since it is being touted as his “first foray into the world of dance,” and it was commissioned by the New York City Ballet.
McCartney wrote the full orchestra score, and the final recorded version that appears on Ocean’s Kingdom was performed by The London Classical Orchestra. Although this was his first attempt at writing classical music, Paul reportedly approached the project in the same that he has done all his previous work, which should be comforting for fans who are unsure about seeing Macca go outside of his comfort zone.
After visiting the Royal Opera House to see a performance by the Royal Ballet and taking time to talk to the dancers after the show, McCartney spent a full two months contemplating the purity of the ocean. After an initial draft he added in characters and worked with Peter Martins, the chief of the New York City Ballet, to finish it off.
What resulted is an hour-long score that tells the story of an underwater race under threat by humans. You’ll have to figure out the full story by listening to the album when it is released by Hear Music/Telarc on October 4th. Maybe you can glean something from the tracklist, which is below.
Ocean’s Kingdom track list:
1. Movement 1 Ocean’s Kingdom (14:07)
2. Movement 2 Hall of Dance (16:19)
3. Movement 3 Imprisonment (13:36)
4. Movement 4 Moonrise (12:29)
