Wiki
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Release Date
7 July 2018
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Length
16 tracks
Egypt Station is the seventeenth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released on 7 September 2018 through Capitol Records.
The album was produced by Greg Kurstin and co-produced by McCartney, with the exception of one track produced by Ryan Tedder. The album is McCartney's first studio release since 2013's New. The album's first (double A-side) single, consisting of the two songs "I Don't Know" and "Come On to Me", was released on 20 June 2018.
The name "Egypt Station" is shared by one of McCartney's paintings from 1988, from which the cover art is derived. It became his first number-one album in the United States since 1982's Tug of War and his first to debut atop the Billboard 200.
Egypt Station was recorded in studios in Los Angeles, London, São Paulo, and Sussex. McCartney began working with producer Greg Kurstin sometime after the release of his 2013 album New and mentioned their working together several times leading up to the 20 June 2018 announcement of Egypt Station's release.
McCartney also wrote and recorded three songs with Ryan Tedder. Two of the songs, "Fuh You" and "Nothing for Free", were released on the album. The song "Get Enough" was also recorded with Tedder for the album, but was instead released on New Year's Day 2019 as a non-album single.
The song "Back in Brazil" was recorded at KLB Studios in the city of São Paulo.
Egypt Station contains 16 tracks, including opening and penultimate ambient pieces entitled "Opening Station" and "Station II", respectively. Tracks include the singles "I Don't Know" and "Come On to Me". "Happy with You" is described as "acoustic meditation on present day contentedness," "People Want Peace" is called a "timeless anthem that would fit on virtually any album of any McCartney era", and "Despite Repeated Warnings" is called "an epic multi-movement closer".
On the inspiration for the album's title and theme, McCartney said:
"I liked the words 'Egypt Station.' It reminded me of the 'album' albums we used to make. … 'Egypt Station' starts off at the station on the first song, and then each song is like a different station. So it gave us some idea to base all the songs around that. I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from."
In the promotional event "Casual Conversation," McCartney further clarified his creative process behind recording Egypt Station and described it as a loose concept album.
Egypt Station debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 in the issue dated 22 September 2018, earning 153,000 album equivalent units (of which 147,000 were pure album sales). It is McCartney's first US number-one album since Tug of War in 1982, as well as his eighth number-one album overall and his first to debut atop the chart. The album dropped to number eight in its second week, earning an additional 37,000 album-equivalent units in the United States.
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