FILE - In this Monday, July 10, 2017 file photo, Paul McCartney performs at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. McCartney scored his 79th Grammy nominations this year — as an art director. The former Beatle is nominated for best boxed or special limited edition package for the collector's edition of his 10th solo album, “Flaming Pie." He's listed as one of the art directors on the project, and shares his nomination with Linn Wie Andersen, Simon Earith and James Musgrave. (AP Photo/Scott Audette, FILE)

Over the last ten months, the global pandemic has turned the world inward in a surreal and dramatic fashion. And yet in the midst of this cataclysmic event, the global lockdown has provided music legend Sir Paul McCartney with an unexpected opportunity to return to the studio and complete his astounding one man band trilogy.

With grand plans in place for a 2020 world tour that was derailed by the coronavirus scourge, the former Beatle hunkered down in a state-of-the-art home recording studio at his country estate nestled in the idyllic hamlet of Sussex, England to write, record, and produce his new album, ‘McCartney III,’ all on his own.

With an eye towards objectivity, at 78, the once great rock ‘n’ roll voice that could catapult us out of our shoes with screaming songs like ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘I’m Down,’ and then take our breath away with the soft and sweeping beauty of ‘Here There and Everywhere,’ ‘Yesterday’ and ‘The Long and winding Road,’ has grown a bit reedy, thin and scratchy across the decades. The years have indeed taken a mighty toll of his once golden vocal chords.

That being said, time actually seems to have honed his overall musical prowess. He has not lost a step, and the aged tone of his voice underscores the fact that he’s still a relevant and viable artistic presence on the current music scene. The release of ‘McCartney III’ this month stands as a testament to his enduring genius. This new album features the veteran rock star playing every single instrument on every single track; lead and rhythm guitars, drums, piano, organ, along with such vintage equipment as a double bass, a Mellotron from the fabled Abbey studios, and of course his own iconic Hofner violin bass. Again, this living legend has done all of this as he closes in on 80.

It’s nearly impossible to fathom how, at his age, he still holds such an exalted position in a fickle arena that sees the overwhelming majority of performers being put out to pasture by the time they hit their 40’s. To quote the man himself, “Maybe I’m amazed.”

The tone and feel of this new collection is decidedly different from his first two installments in the trilogy. Both the 1970 ‘McCartney,’ as well as his 80’s offering ‘McCartney II’ were both reflective of major upheavals and transitions in his personal life. They were recorded and released at the end of his career with the Beatles and then with the disbanding of Wings respectively. With ‘McCartney III, he appears to be quite happy, more grounded, and a far less restless. Throughout, his latest batch of songs are crafted with the seemingly effortless melodies that have always been his signature style.

This new offering finds McCartney still having an insatiable appetite to delve into new sounds as he continues to stretch himself and extend his creative envelope. The bottom line is that across more than a half century, he has retained his extraordinary songwriting ability. Paul has done all this while, in the wake of the tragic assassination of John Lennon 40 years ago, often finding himself living in the long shadow of a dead man.

His pandemic-fueled isolation has resulted in McCartney offering-up a tasty dish of eclectic songs, some of which, carry a bit of the nostalgic feel of his glory days with the Beatles. A case in point is the blues rocking ‘Lavatory Lil’ that draws one back to distant days of ‘Lovely Rita,’ ‘Polythene Pam,’ and the glory of the Beatles. ‘Lavatory Lil’ chronicles a gold-digging woman who wants all that she can get. “You think that she’s being friendly, but she’s looking for a Bentley.” It probably would have fit perfectly on the ‘Abbey Road’ album. Listening carefully to it one can’t miss the thinly veiled reference to McCartney’s second wife, Heather Mills.

Another rousing track on ‘McCartney III’ is ‘Slidin,’ a hard rocker that marries a raw vocal to some gold-plated guitar riffs. ‘Slidin’ has him screaming, “This is what I wanna do, who I want to be.” The uplifting and bouncy ‘Seize the Day’ amplifies his lifelong pleasant disposition as he shares his belief that we should all try to be nicer to each other and cherish every moment that this life gives to us. “When the cold days comes, and the old ways fade away, they’ll be no more sun and we’ll wish that we had held on to the day.”

For me, ‘Deep Down’ and ‘Winter Bird / When Winter Comes,’ the last two tracks on the album are both musical gems. Both songs have him dipping down into his distant musical past and pulling up that long ago soft and melodic singing voice that was the hallmark of his classics like “Blackbird,” and “I will.” These two musical ditty’s that close out the album are vintage McCartney.

When all is said and done, the world’s most successful and enduring superstar is never really going to sing with the golden voice that captivated us so many years ago. And at the end of the day, that’s really OK as this new album is very definitely not his swan song.

At its core, ‘McCartney III is a bit sentimental and nostalgic, and yet it is also progressive, forward looking and viable. It is his best output in years, and it stands as a tangible proof point that underscores his artistic viability. ‘McCartney III’ is the latest offering from a timeless singer-songwriter that the world has been listening to, and embracing, for over a half century. And again, “Maybe I’m Amazed” by it.

Paul Collins is a freelance writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.

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