What does it sound like?:
You may not have noticed, but a new Paul McCartney album has been quietly released – The Boys of Dungeon Lane – his first for five years or so.
I am a big fan, but not an uncritical one. Recent releases have come and gone….Egypt Station sits on the shelf unvisited for years – McCartney 111 was apparently his last one and I can’t name a song on it without dusting it off – New…a good title but nothing else memorable about it. Is this any different? Well, I got it on Friday and I can’t stop playing it…something about it has wormed into my brain and won’t let go.
Sonically it is very varied – a touch of Chaos and Creation in the Backyard here, a nod to Flaming Pie there – and the sheer contrast between the various songs is refreshing in itself. One has to mention his voice of course – you will probably have heard Days We Left Behind where his voice is old and vulnerable, but the surprise is that that isn’t the voice you hear throughout the LP. As signalled by the title and the hype, a lot of this is Macca looking back at his childhood and people from his past, including his fellow fabs of course. As always with later Macca, there is the odd clunky lyric – I wonder if after all these years he just consciously tries to not repeat himself…?
A quick note on the production – it is totally in the service of the songs and doesn’t intrude. Some simple arrangements, some complex ones, the whole LP has a variety and yet cohesive feel.
Unusually, I plumped for a vinyl version. I don’t buy too many LPs , but just thought I’d treat myself over the usual CD. The art work is nice – a simple outer embossed sleeve and a nice full sized booklet on thick paper with facsimiles of hand written lyrics, complete with amendments and written notes. The inner sleeve is a collage of old photos, prominently featuring well known members of a certain old band of his. It feels quality. The pressing is fantastic – totally flawless and beautiful sounding.
A note on the streaming version – there are some animated and colourised images that illustrate the songs one by one. I’m sure this has been done before, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it.
Track by track…briefly…
As You Lie There – as if to defy expectations of his voice as mentioned above, this is also probably the most complex song on the album – from a spoken word opening, it develops into a acoustic song, and just when you get a handle on it you get full throated rocking Macca. A fascinating opener. The subject matter is a long lost girl friend and captures his teen angst. It’s fascinating he chose this to start the album.
Lost Horizon – a song about all the sounds he grew up hearing – trains, clocks, bus brakes, fairgrounds, including music on the on the radio. This is a real grower.
Days We Left Behind – I really believe this will enter the canon as a Macca classic. That chorus is just beautiful and anyone of an age relates to how he feels here about looking back. How does he do this without sounding cliched? Wonderful.
Ripple in a Pond – a medium paced love song, this is a bit Flaming Pie and one of those songs he can knock out in his sleep. Placed after the previous track, this is bit of light relief. His voice in fine fettle, and an instantly classic Macca vocal. Nice.
Mountain Top – a bit of a Beatley sound to my ears, lots of interesting sonic stuff going on in the background, but possibly one of the least consequential tracks on the album. However, it takes an interesting turn at the end, where it totally rocks out – like it’s been flown in from elsewhere.
Down South – a lovely song about hitchhiking with George and John. This has the feel of a demo, with just a strummed acoustic guitar backing. I know he and George came here to Exmouth – I should get a plaque arranged! Really nice.
We Two – another simple arrangement – drums and acoustic mostly, with a lovely little guitar break. Another song about being close to someone, which is a real theme of this album. There is an odd little bit at the end…a rewinding tape perhaps..? I can’t make it out, but a typical Macca happy accident I assume.
Come Inside – a great riff, another track that sonically references past glories. As catchy as flu, and a great side 2 opener, he lets rip with the vocal here. Great production by the way.
Never Know – the arrangement saves this, and the recorder is a lovely touch. Some great playing here, but the song is probably one of the weaker ones.
Home To Us – the Ringo track! Actually absolutely typical of some of Ringo’s latter day records which frequently referenced Liverpool. Macca is more of a backing vocalist here, and it has exactly the affect of the Ringo track on Beatle albums – a bit of fun, charming and a nice contrast.
Life Can Be Hard – not sure this quite works. It’s a bit When I’m 64 ish, with a bouncy backing track reminiscent of Dad’s jazz band methinks. Obviously about family. It is growing on me though – lovely instrumentation and production.
First Star of the Night – a charming, comforting song. Again, Macca’s voice has a slight vulnerability to it, but not nearly as ‘old’ as on Days. Lovely bass. A standout after a few plays.
Salesman Saint – he has always talked about his happy family life, and here it is in song. A really interesting construction here – it almost becomes something completely different in the middle – more jazzy backing towards the end, it builds really nicely. The lyrics are a bit…well….obvious.
Momma Gets By – another song about family. A beautiful arrangement with piano and strings. Almost spoken rather than sung, I get the feeling he really wanted to say all this and its placement at the end is significant I feel – it leaves you with a warmth and calmness.
Several times I have played this LP and afterwards just sat here reflecting on my own life. McCartney has been with me since 1963, and this has probably touched me as much as anything he has done. I don’t know where this sits – only time will tell where it falls within that list of worst to best that will crop up – but I only know it is one of my very favourites already. Thanks Macca.
What does it all *mean*?
We ar3 lucky to still have him amongst us.
Goes well with…
A comfy sofa
Release Date:
29th May 2026
Might suit people who like…
Songcraft
Same relationship with Egypt Station and III.
Bought, listened, but don’t recall revisiting
New though – very much likey, and have spun more than a few times.
Liking the new outing for much the same reasons you cite.
I’m also hearing echoes of Wings, particularly with guitar solos.
I will have to revisit other recent albums. When reaching for a McCartney album I tend to default to early 70s or Flaming Pie, Run Devil Run or Chaos and Creation.
Maybe these two threads could be merged?
Thanks for review. Still waiting for my vinyl to arrive. I liked Egypt Station, McCartney III left less of an impression on me. New was ok, Chaos and Creation is, for me, in his top 3 post Beatles albums. Superb. But incredibly that was more than 20 years ago. There was about the same length of time between Please Please Me and Pipes of Peace!
I presume your first sentence is a joke. Apparently there are 17 different versions and I think I got an email/message about every single one (I thought one)
Yes, it was an attempt at humour! The hype is a little irksome and the need to release so many different versions eludes me, although I’m sure there are people out there who feel they need every one, so why not sell to the idiots..? What will really make me mad is if they release some new version with extra tracks. The Stones did it with Hackney Diamonds and you can see it coming.
(I bought one) should say
This guy got a few more
I think the only HD with extra tracks was the Japanese version that also had Living in a Ghost Town on it, but there was also a (very good) live album
I got a version of HD with a live second CD.
Oh so they merged the two albums, I got both but separately
Loved the early Days We Left Behind single so was looking forward to this. Listened through a couple of times now and initially was underwhelmed but the second time round a few more of the songs worked their way in. Like raw simple production and was also surprised by how strong his voice is. For me there are half a dozen or so very good songs (disagree with @NigelT about Never Know which for me is a real highlight with a Crowded House feel ). The rest of the songs by comparison seem a bit dull and forgettable.
He’s a remarkable man and musician though and I tip my hat to him to be still driven to want to continue.
Egypt Station was okay, but I listened again to McCartney III recently and was very underwhelmed. I do like the new one though, and have been playing it regularly since it was released. It’s a cliche now, but I do feel that we are all immensely lucky that he is still around and producing music of this quality. 56 years after The Beatles who’d have put money on Paul and Ringo duetting on a new record?
Been listening to this a bit over the weekend but unfortunately I still kind of want to like it more than I actually do. Admittedly the production sounds nice and agreeable but then you do get to points in some of the songs where you would have thought Macca ought to be capable of producing even an occasional genuine Neil Finn type flourish, not just a sort of soundalike, but they just don’t really happen and the tune continues in it’s slightly sketchy sort of way. I’m sticking with it for a bit longer mind, because he’s clearly trying and it isn’t an unpleasant thing to have on while I’m doing other stuff.
Sure, he’s got nothing to prove, and there’s more than enough in the back catalogue to keep enjoying. For me though, apart from certain occasional tracks, his albums have been a bit like this for a very long time now.