Music news: Paul McCartney, Frank Ocean, and Wilco

There is a lot of good news for music lovers on Wednesday. Well, one might be good news, so let's begin with one that definitely is. Late last week, Paul McCartney hinted at a new global tour that has now been confirmed to be happening, at least in Australia and New Zealand.

In 2017, Frontier Touring produced his stadium shows in Australia and New Zealand but McCartney toured all over the world after that. I bring this up because Frontier Touring, in collaboration with Paul McCartney posted on different social media platforms late last week hinting at a possible new McCartney tour. Now, per Billboard, McCartney is going to Australia, he's likely going everywhere as well. The Australian leg will start "with an 'intimate' date at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, October 18."

As an aside, it's difficult to believe McCartney is 81 years old. He appears to have the energy of a 30-year-old, and he still makes incredible music. Now let's just hope we can all see him play that music live quite soon everywhere.

Paul McCartney will tour!, Frank Ocean's new album?, and Wilco set a date

Frank Ocean hasn't released an album since 2016's Blonde, but there have been hints that he is "in the studio" working since at least last year. Per i-D, Catalan artist Rosalia said she had been working with Frank Ocean on making at least one new track for the record. Of course, as most know, Ocean spends a lot of time perfecting his records before they come out, but seven years and counting seems like an excessively long time.

Other music news and analysis

The hope here is that Ocean has a new album out later this year, but, of course, hope means little in this situation. Let's just hope - there's that word again - that Frank Ocean releases at least one more album in our lifetimes.

One band that is releasing new music for sure is Wilco. The band will release their 13th studio album on September 29th and the record will be called Cousin. The album will have 10 tracks and is produced by Kate Le Bon. The first single from the album is already out and is called "Evicted."

The song sounds like classic Wilco with a heavy dose of Beatles melody and harmony. There's also a hint of Prince's "Rasberry Beret" musically during the lyrics, "Oh, I can take a joke/But my clothes are all smoke/It's too cold to be unclear." In other words, it's fantastic. If the rest of the record is as good as the first single, it could be among Wilco's best.