Paul McCartney hosted a special playback of his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane at London's Abbey Road Studios on Tuesday, treating 50 competition-winning Beatles fans to an intimate preview. The ex-Beatle entered Studio Two to cheers, saying, 'Hello, and welcome to Abbey Road studios. I'm going to play the album for you and try to think of stuff to say about it.'
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Over 90 minutes, McCartney traced his way back to the beginning, sharing memories of his youth in Liverpool, anecdotes about John Lennon and George Harrison, and insights into his songwriting process. Studio Two, where most of the Beatles' recordings between 1962 and 1970 were made, provided a fitting backdrop. 'It's a little bit emotional. This is where we worked, always in this studio. We used to come in through the tradesmen's entrance,' he said.
The album, his first new solo work in over five years, began with a chance discovery. 'I was idly playing guitar and stumbled across a chord I didn't recognise,' McCartney explained. That sketch became the opening track As You Lie There, which reaches back to his childhood and an unspoken crush on a neighbour named Jasmine. 'I didn't know how to approach her,' he recalled. 'The joke was, she did show up later that year and knocked on the door. I was indisposed – I was on the toilet – so I missed Jasmine!'
Personal Stories and New Songs
The album, billed as his most personal to date, turns inward to postwar Liverpool, his parents' resilience, and early adventures with the Beatles. The title track Days We Left Behind references Dungeon Lane near the River Mersey, where McCartney roamed as a boy, and a promise made to Lennon. 'This was a lot of memories of Liverpool for me, but also any days we've left behind. Everyone's got them – school, old mates,' he said.
Other tracks include Ripples in a Pond, a love song for his wife Nancy Shevell; Mountaintop, from the perspective of a young woman at Glastonbury; Home to Us, his first duet with Ringo Starr; and Life Can Be Hard, written during lockdown. On Salesman Saint, he reflects on his parents: 'My dad was a fireman, putting out fires from the bombs. My mum was a nurse and midwife. But they carried on, because they had to. Like people in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere now.'
McCartney also shared a humorous story about hitchhiking with Lennon and Harrison, which inspired the nostalgic track Down South. 'George got the battery. He had jeans with a zip on the back and it connected with the battery. Later, at a B&B, he showed me the big zip burn,' he said, laughing.
The Boys of Dungeon Lane is McCartney's 18th solo studio album, due for release on 29 May. As each song played, he mouthed the lyrics and mimed along, clearly moved by the experience.
