“A sincere, vulnerable Paul”: at 83, McCartney will release an intimate solo album in the spring

At 83, Paul McCartney has not said his last word or played his last note. As a surprise, Macca unveils a new song this Thursday, “Days We left Behind”, a pretty ballad with acoustic and nostalgic accents in which he remembers his young years, in black and white, in the smoky bars of Liverpool, and his beginnings with cheap guitars.

This is the first extract from a new album, his eighteenth solo, which will be released on May 29. “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane” borrows its title from one of the verses of this new song. In Liverpool, “Dungeon Lane” is a lane that Paul still sees when he returns home, as a symbolic gateway to a world before fame: afternoons by the Mersey, a birding book in hand, “smoky bars and cheap guitars”, and dreams yet to come.

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“It’s above all a song that talks about my memories,” explains Paul McCartney. I was just thinking about those days I left behind, and I often wonder if I only write about the past — but how can I write about anything else? They are mostly Liverpool souvenirs. There is a passage in the middle that mentions John and Forthlin Road, the street where I lived. Dungeon Lane is nearby. I lived in a neighborhood called Speke, which was mostly working-class. We didn’t have much, but it didn’t matter, because the people were great and we didn’t even realize we were lacking. »

According to the press release from his record company, Polydor, Paul McCartney will tell his most personal story: his own. This album will be the most introspective of his career and will reveal “a sincere, vulnerable and deeply introspective Paul, writing with rare frankness about his childhood in post-war Liverpool, the resilience of his parents, as well as his early adventures alongside George Harrison and John Lennon”. But there will also be love songs, we are told.

“The Boys of Dungeon Lane” began life five years ago, when “Macca” met producer Andrew Watt over a cup of tea to exchange ideas. This 35-year-old American producer is definitely on the rise since after putting the Rolling Stones back in the saddle with “Hackney Diamonds” in 2023, he relaunched Lady Gaga with her latest album “Mayhem”.

A tour at the end of 2026

While improvising on the guitar when they met, Paul stumbled upon a chord that even he, the most prolific living composer, did not recognize. Far from letting himself be destabilized, guided by his taste for experimentation, he continued to modify one note, then another, until he obtained a progression of three chords which Watt then suggested he record.

This session spawned the album’s opening track, “As You Lie There.” Encouraged by his new producer, Paul then developed this title by playing the majority of the instruments himself, in the spirit of his first solo album released in 1970, “McCartney”. This is how the journey of what will become his 18th studio album under his name began.

The ex-Beatle’s busy schedule led to recording in short, optimized sessions, interspersed between different stages of world tours over a period of five years, between Los Angeles and Sussex. Without pressure and without deadline constraints, the duo was able to shape the album at their own pace, until achieving the desired result.

According to McCartney, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane” stands out for its musical eclecticism, moving between instruments and styles to illustrate the full extent of his artistic palette. We will find Wings-style rock, Beatles-style harmonies, McCartney-style grooves, restrained intimacy, stories carried by melody, as well as titles evoking characters, the common thread being Paul himself.

For the moment, no tour has been announced. His last visit to France, at Paris La Défense Arena, dates back to December 2024. Two shows lasting no less than 2h30 followed by more than 80,000 fans who recalled how this legend is not only alive but still creative. This excellent surprise confirms it. And according to our information, there should be a tour following the album with concerts in Europe at the end of 2026.