Review: Paul McCartney’s The Boys Of Dungeon Lane

In his poem ‘Days’, Philip Larkin asks, “What are days for?” and replies: “Days are where we live.” Nobody knows this more than Paul McCartney, a man whose songs and lyrics are often rooted in days: ‘Yesterday’, ‘Here Today’, ‘Tomorrow’, ‘Another Day’… and most recently, his 2026 single ‘Days We Left Behind’, a nostalgic look back at the early days of The Beatles.

Understandably for a man in his early 80s, in recent years Paul has written a lot of songs that reflect on his past:  ‘That Was Me’ (2007), ‘Early Days’ (2013), ‘Ever Present Past’ (2007), ‘Summer Of 59’ (2005), to name just tracks written in the last 20 years. ‘Looking back’ features increasingly in McCartney’s work, and nowhere more than on The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, his new album, the first in five years and, amazingly, his eighth this century.

Produced by Andrew Watt, who seems to have worked with everybody from Justin Bieber to Iggy Pop (but perhaps most relevantly with The Rolling Stones on their sparky, chunky 2023 album Hackney Diamonds) The Boys Of Dungeon Lane features at least six songs inspired by Macca’s ever present past (and one actual song from the past, thought lost). Musically, too, it avoids the flirtations with modern sound attempted on 2013’s New, 2021’s McCartney III Imagined and to a lesser extent 2018’s Egypt Station, and is mostly played by Paul himself: and there’s plenty of it, too: 14 tracks, with no instrumentals or –  a Macca favourite – medleys: every idea here is worked out and fleshed out.

It begins with the first song McCartney and Watt collaborated on, ‘As You Lie There’, which begins with a spoken word intro in which Paul recalls looking up at a girl’s window as he walks past and wondering if she likes him. Classic Macca guitar ensues – he really does like to play snarling axe riffs given the chance – and Paul returns to his theme. “As you lie across the bed, am I there inside your head?” he roars, “In the room beyond the blind do I ever cross your mind?” Based on real life experience (“There was a girl I fancied called Jasmine. But I didn’t know how to approach her,” says McCartney now, adding, “She did show up later that year and knocked on the door. I was indisposed – I was on the toilet – so I missed Jasmine! How romantic is that?”) ‘As You Lie There’ transcends its mild stalkiness to become a powerful, if slightly alarming, opener. “Although we only met one time I can’t forget the feeling that came over me,” Paul concludes, “I like to think that we could be together forever.”

Next up is ‘Lost Horizon’, a chunky item, and a song from the 2000s that McCartney had not only lost but forgotten. With a fantastic lyric about the impact sounds can have –  “The call of a train whistle cutting through the night / I still remember that sound,” Paul sings, “The purring of a car engine waiting at the light / Laughter from a children’s playground / that sound can lift me up / That sound can do my head in” – ‘Lost Horizon’ turns out to be a song worth reviving and its conclusion – “Every memory we shared brought us closer together” – could act as a summary of this album’s mood.

And then it’s ‘Days We Left Behind’, a song that had many listeners in floods the first time they heard it (me included). The combination of one of Paul McCartney’s best melodies, a beautiful arrangement, a lyric full of wisdom and optimistic resignation, and above all that fragile vocal is quite overwhelming, especially when Paul sings, “ ’Cos nothing stays the same and no-one needs to cry / And no-one is to blame.” A nostalgic song, to be sure, but also one about coming to terms with the past and acknowledging its place in our lives (“I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past,” said McCartney recently, “But then I think how can you write about anything else?”).

More jaunty is ‘Ripples On A Pond’, a song about being in love and being blessed. Chiming guitars ensue and all is well on a song that would have sat well on McCartney III. It’s short, and to the point, and followed by the dizziest song on the album, ‘Mountain Top’. Described charmingly by Paul as “like Coachella and Glastonbury … people going off for the weekend to trip out and get stoned. I was trying to get that feeling of a young girl at the festival, tripping out.” With all the ‘60s tropes in place – looped voices (Nancy Shevell), lyrics about magic mushrooms and pumpkin pie, and a total wig-out at the end, it seems perhaps unnecessary for Paul to sing, “Little girl, you’re tripping.” The whole thing is a flashback, in every sense of the word, and entirely enjoyable.

Nostalgia re-emerges on ‘Down South’, another song about the very early days of The Beatles – “talking about guitars and rock’n’roll / They were the subjects that would never grow old.” Based on “very affectionate memories of George” – but sadly not including the one where either Paul or George suffered “zip burn” (look it up) – it’s a brisk tribute to Harrison and to a lesser extent John Lennon.

‘We Two’ follows, a pleasantly dreamy chugger which is pure love song (“Last night I dreamed of you”) and appears to feature a Mellotron, which is nice. By no means an imposing song, it brings the vinyl version of side one of the album to a low-key conclusion.

Things get louder on side two. After a short burst of tape rewind, ‘Come Inside’ bursts into life like one of the beefier numbers on New. Moody and anthemic, this song was accurately described by Paul as “basically a rocker; not much more to say except it’s terrific.” There’s not much to it, but it’s fun:  and the same can be said of ‘Never Know’, a song that rolls along on deep bass and is held aloft by a chorus of recorder. Another love song – “I want to feel your touch / I love you but you know my heart is breaking over you” – it ends in a flurry of guitars and ooohs, like a more robust Beach Boys number.

And now it’s Ringo’s turn. It’s hard to believe that ‘Home To Us’ is the first duet sung by Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney – they’ve appeared on each other’s solo albums many times – but here it is, a rollicking singalong (with Fabesque backing vocals by the hitherto unteamed-up Chrissie Hynde and Sharleen Spiteri) which is not so much nostalgia as sponsored by the actual concept of the past. The sheer enthusiasm of Ringo and Paul’s performances makes up for the all-fields-round here sentiment and, if it’s not the most subtle song of all time, well, neither was ‘Yellow Submarine’.

‘Life Can Be Hard’ follows. Over a Café De Paris jazzy backing McCartney offers up his philosophy of life in a song that encapsulates another aspect of his personality: his unstoppable optimism. “There’s a lot of hardship for many people,” he said of this song. “Everyone’s got something, but we’ve got to beat our way through those hardships. It beats the alternative, you know?” The optimism continues on the charming and gorgeous ‘First Star Of The Night’ which has nothing to do with Disney and everything to do with that Macca perspective on life (“The first star of the night is always a sort of special thing when you see it — it always gives me a bit of hope”). It breezes past delightfully.

And then we’re back in the past, in World War Two to be precise, with ‘Salesman Saint’, a song about Paul’s parents during the war. With its moody acoustics and the addition of a brass band, ‘Salesman Saint’ is the most melodically inventive track, and adds the notion of survival in adversity to the mix (“Hitler was sending planes over Liverpool and my dad was a fireman, my ma was a nurse and midwife who had to deal with all these injuries. That has to do something to you,” says Paul).

And then it’s almost over. Fourteen great songs and a brilliant one to end with. ‘Momma Gets By’ is one of Paul McCartney’s character songs, one of those tunes that John Lennon famously described as “boring people, doing boring things”, missing the point that Macca’s songs about other people show compassion for, and interest in, others. From ‘Eleanor Rigby’ to ‘Lady Madonna’, from ‘Another Day’ to 2007’s ‘Only Mama Knows’, Paul McCartney’s always been inspired by the lives of others: and ‘Momma Gets By’ is no exception. The story of a woman whose partner is “a bit of a wastrel,” it’s a beauteous, sad and lovely song and the album’s most emotional moment. “She loves him,” Paul sings, “She loves him with all her heart and soul.” It’s moving and powerful and a fantastic end to a great album, a collection of songs about hope, and love, and the past – and the days we live in.

“What are days for?” asked Philip Larkin, and answered himself: “They are to be happy in.”

Paul McCartney would agree.

Review by David Quantick. The Boys Of Dungeon Lane is released today.

Tracklisting

The Boys of Dungeon Lane Paul McCartney /

• • CD
    1. As You Lie There
    2. Lost Horizon
    3. Days We Left Behind
    4. Ripples in a Pond
    5. Mountain Top
    6. Down South
    7. We Two
    8. Come Inside
    9. Never Know
    10. Home to Us
    11. Life Can Be Hard
    12. First Star of the Night
    13. Sailsman Saint
    14. Momma Gets By
• Vinyl LP

  • SIDE A

    1. As You Lie There
    2. Lost Horizon
    3. Days We Left Behind
    4. Ripples in a Pond
    5. Mountain Top
    6. Down South
    7. We Two

    SIDE B

    1. Come Inside
    2. Never Know
    3. Home to Us
    4. Life Can Be Hard
    5. First Star of the Night
    6. Sailsman Saint
    7. Momma Gets By