Off the Ground

Recorded live in the studio, the songs for Paul McCartney’s 1993 album are blessed with a bullish confidence, from the strutting stomp of “Off the Ground” to the urgent strum of “Biker Like an Icon”. There’s a flinty edge to the two ornate waltzes (“Mistress and Maid”, “The Lovers That Never Were”) left over from his songwriting collaboration with Elvis Costello. “Looking for Changes” is an uncharacteristically angry critique of animal cruelty, while McCartney regains his lightness of touch on the breezy “Hope of Deliverance”.