Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard, Paul McCartney’s 20th studio recording since The Beatles, marks an end to a nearly four-year hiatus since his last studio recording, 2001’s Driving Rain. The new 13-track album is co-produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis and Beck) and McCartney, and was recorded in London and Los Angeles over the course of the past two years. Its release coincides with the September 16 launch of McCartney’s all new 37-city US Tour, his fastest selling concert tour ever. This tour also includes a sold-out show in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on October 10, 2005.

Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard is a return to the basics for McCartney. The album successfully fuses his undeniable song writing talents with his unparalleled musicianship. In fact, McCartney is credited with playing the majority of the instruments on the album, which is somewhat reminiscent of McCartney (1970) when he was credited with playing all of the instruments. They include the drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, as well as many of the less traditional instruments such as block flute, harmonium and flugelhorn.

Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard is a mix of up-tempo piano driven McCartney instant classics such as ‘Fine Line’ and ‘Promise To You Girl’ and more introspective darker tracks such as ‘At The Mercy,’ ‘Too Much Rain’ and ‘Riding To Vanity Fair.’ One of the many highlights is a track entitled, ‘Jenny Wren,’ which Paul describes as “daughter of Blackbird,” as well as ‘Follow Me,’ which McCartney debuted at The Glastonbury Festival, while on his ’04 Summer European Tour.

But Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard would not have been either if not for the suggestion of now legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin. Familiar with Nigel’s credentials and with his published desire to work with an established artist, Paul made the call that finally put the two together in the studio. The collaboration seemed an unlikely one and thus the rumours began. What type of album was McCartney making?

“I did not want to rush this album,” said McCartney, who despite repeated inquiries, touring commitments and pressure from his record label, managed to maintain his focus. “I think it was worth the wait though. The music became more interesting over time and I’m really proud of what we did.”

The results are evident throughout. The songs are sonically robust, the instrumentation and orchestration first rate and the chemistry between Paul and Nigel apparent. The album has an organic feel reminiscent of Paul’s first solo release, McCartney, (1970) and some of The Beatles later recordings.

“We really made a lot of it up as we went along,” added McCartney. “I’d try something and if it didn’t work I’d try something else until it did. It was like making a go-cart in the backyard.”

“When Paul and I got together we had a common goal,” said Godrich. “We wanted to make a great album that was true to Paul. I think that’s exactly what we did.”

Full Tracklisting:
Fine Line 3:05
How Kind Of You 4:47
Jenny Wren 3:47
At The Mercy 2:38
Friends To Go 2:43
English Tea 2:12
Too Much Rain 3:24
A Certain Softness 2:42
Riding To Vanity Fair 5:07
Follow Me 2:31
Promise To You Girl 3:10
This Never Happened Before 3:26
Anyway 3:50

Total Running Time: 46:54