The Pop Corporation

Well, we were halfway there. The cat is now out of the bag, and Paul McCartney has announced his 18th solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

The album is out in May, and the track listing is already on Spotify etc. And better yet, there’s a nostalgic, pleasant song to listen to as well, called ‘Days We Left Behind’.

The press release says that this is Macca’s most introspective album to date and a “collection of rare and revealing glimpses into memories never-before shared, along with some newly inspired love songs”.

Musically, it is apparently going to reflect his whole career, including “Wings-style rock, Beatles-style harmonies, McCartney-style grooves, understated intimacy, melody-driven storytelling, character songs”.

In a lovely touch, McCartney decided to debut the song on BBC Radio Merseyside, and put out a video talking about the new work.

McCartney, 83, said: “This is very much a memory song for me. The album title comes from a lyric in this track. I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past, but then I think: how can you write about anything else? It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool. It involves a bit in the middle about John [Lennon] and Forthlin Road, which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there.”

This new track is a lovely, autumnal number which brings to mind the underrated ‘Chaos and Creation in the Backyard’, but looking at the track listing, there’s going to be some boot stompers as well, at a guess.

Paul is in his 80s now, and it’s nice he’s taking stock and thinking about his rich past, whichever way he’s looking at it.

The tracks are as follows.

As You Lie There
Lost Horizon
Days We Left Behind
Ripples in a Pond
Mountain Top
Down South
We Two
Come Inside
Never Know
Home to Us
Life Can Be Hard
First Star of the Night
Salesman Saint
Momma Gets By