Paul McCartney has unveiled Ed O’Brien’s rendition of his track Slidin’, which first appeared on his 2020 album, McCartney III.
The Radiohead guitarist's riotous remix, which opts for an up-tempo feel, reimagines the track as a high-octane rocker, super-charging the huge bed of thrash-y electric guitars, punchy power chord stabs and adding a layer of ethereal synths that weave their way through the length of the song.
O’Brien doesn't pull his punches, and further shifts things up a gear by the time the guitar-lead middle eight comes around, transforming the once-easy-going melodic phrasing into a hectic, head-banging-inducing breakdown. You can listen to the full track below.
The remix is taken from McCartney’s upcoming cover album McCartney III Imagined, which sees the Beatles legend recruit an array of music industry heavyweights, including St. Vincent, Phoebe Bridgers, Beck, Anderson .Paak and Dominic Fike, to offer up their own unique spins on his tracks.
While speaking to BBC Radio 6 about the project, O’Brien said, “I really liked [Slidin’], and so I said to Paul Epworth, would you fancy getting stuck in? He was really up for it. It was great.
“A moment of light in the darkness of the winter that’s just been,” he continued. “We had a lot of fun. Got into [McCartney’s] vocals and added some chaos, some guitar– my reference point was Helter Skelter, ramp up the intensity!”
Slidin’ is the third offering from the highly anticipated album, with Dominic Fike’s rendition of The Kiss of Venus having been unveiled as the record’s lead single. Beck’s cover of Find My Way has also been released.
McCartney III Imagined is set to drop on April 16.
“When I joined, Ozzy told me I'd often hear people scream out Randy's name during a show”: Zakk Wylde discusses Ozzy Osbourne's hard-and-fast guitar rules, and the friendly shadows of Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee, in his first Guitar World interview
“People might look and think I’m just this TikTok personality. They don’t know that I’ve been playing since 2010”: Kiki Wong recalls her early guitar career – and the “crazy” bootleg tours with three people sleeping in the back of a truck
