Paul McCartney- The Boys of Dungeon Lane
Label: Capitol
Producers: Paul McCartney, Andrew Watt
Across any generation, region or space of popular music, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an artist with a more enduring combination of fame, cultural relevance, lyrical prolificacy, or cross-generational stylistic impact than Sir Paul McCartney. And it’s that towering stature that makes the surprising confessional intimacy and revelatory nature of The Boys of Dungeon Lane, the legend’s first LP in six years and twentieth solo release overall, so incredibly rewarding. The fact that McCartney, at nearly 84 years of age and after six decades at the height of cultural prominence, can curate new and surprising chapters from his life story is nothing short of astounding. But that’s exactly what he and new producer Andrew Watt (Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Post Malone, The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, and more) have achieved with Dungeon, a charming and personal collection of anecdotes primarily culled from McCartney’s Liverpool youth in the aftermath of World War II, of which he delivers with stirring nostalgia, romanticism, and wisdom.
The stage for the record is set excellently by opening track, “As You Lie There”, a slightly mysterious and ever-intimate recollection of a one-time meeting in his childhood of a potential first-love that never came to fruition. The life-long sustainability of those young, romantic longings make for the kind of great musical cinema that McCartney has always been a master of.The performance and production capably balance the two central themes to the nostalgia that beautifully defines the album: the bittersweet reflections that land in the sweet-spot of Macca’s reflective balladeering, and an undiminished, rocking swagger that on the LP’s most raucous choruses, still stands up to his prime performances from the 60s and 70s. It’s this classic balance that forms the fabric of Dungeon Lane and unveils a cohesive combination of appreciative anthems and love-letters to the formative relationships that have colored his remarkable life. Anthems and letters written to everything and everyone from his childhood (“Lost Horizon”, “Days We Left Behind”, “Home To Us”) , parents (“Salesman Spirit”), and past loves (“We Too”) to his friendships (also “We Too” and “Days We Left Behind”), bandmates (“Down Home”), rock & roll (“Mountain Top”, “Come Inside”), and his twilight years romance with wife, Nancy (“Ripples in a Pond”, “Life Can Be Hard”).
Throughout all of these story arcs, Watt supplies McCartney with keen and tasteful production support, with only but a few moments where his arrangements risk overcoming McCartney’s voice. Overall though, we can be grateful that Watt remembers the strength of the artist he’s recording…and that this is Paul freaking McCartney. Together, they capture a sonic atmosphere that is consistently in service of the performer and the performance. McCartney is most definitely still a rock singer first and foremost, and the rollicking moments here serve as a positive blueprint for how an aging rock star can gracefully, confidently, and convicingly navigate their latter decades. These moments are fresh, punchy, and full of vigorous rock spirit. And while it’s true that bittersweet and affectionate tracks like “Days” and “Life” do require a vocal range that slightly exposes his 83 years, McCartney continues to positively tap into those sweet, time-tested, lived-in qualitie in a manner that only elevates these moments.
Unquestionably, Fab Four fanatics will immediately gravitate toward the tracks that nod to Beatles-lore, though these are also unequivocally some of the true highlights. “Mountain Top” and “Never Know” offer psychedelic throwbacks to the experimental nature of the group’s latter catalog (and to that of Wings), while the more vintage and stripped “Down South” recalls the formative hitch-hiking trips he shared with George Harrison, of which served as early origins for the greatest rock music story of all time. And with lyrics like “It was a good way to get to know you, before we learned to twist and shout“, Beatles-fans and rock historians will be left smiling blissfully throughout. “We Two” meanwhile has been speculated to be about either John Lennon, McCartney’s late wife Linda, or both. It truly works equally as a love song and one of friendship, and his passionate and heartfelt vocals evoke a special sense of bond that only Macca could achieve. And of course then there’s “Home To Us”, surprisingly his first-ever duet with Ringo Starr, and what a joy it is to hear the two surviving band members reunited at long last on record (with additional vocal support from Sharleen Spiteri and Chrissie Hynde no less). It’s a jovial celebration of friendship, camaraderie, and love, with Watt pulling off the kind of harmonic and melodic arrangements that tap into the Beatles nostalgia effortlessly. Lastly, “Momma Gets By” provides the kind of swelling, orchestral finales that came to define the group’s greatest albums, and as the sole track where McCartney deliberately pivots from autobiographical material, it serves as a reminder that he still taps into a magical well when he dreams up his own fictional, musical storytelling. It’s an inspired finale to a captivating record from one of the trust masters.
The Boys of Dungeon Lane is the kind of late-career triumph that we selfishly clamor for from our living legends, as if they hadn’t already given us more tremendous music that one could ever expect or imagine. It certainly feels like one of his most inspired and passionate releases this century, and arguably his most pivotal and purposeful artistic accomplishments since 1997’s Flaming Pie. Even the already-familiar components of the man’s fabled story are given new shades of intimacy, nuance, and wise life lessons through the lens of Dungeon Lane, and the rare life-perspective one will attain at his age in any lifetime, not to mention one lived by Paul McCartney. As he eloquently sings on “Lost Horizon”, “Every day we spent there, was the start of the first day of forever…You’ve gotta live for now and make every moment count”, each day granted can be pivotal to our life stories and experience, if we allow them the chance. While that sage wisdom may not (and hopefully won’t) prove to be the parting words musically speaking from Paul McCartney, they certainly serve as a central and definitive mantra for his legendary career and life. How fortunate are we that he chose to capture it for us in such timelessly artistic and entertaining fashion.
Track Listing:
- “As You Lie There” (Paul McCartney, Andrew Watt)
- “Lost Horizon” (McCartney)
- “Days We Left Behind” (McCartney)
- “Ripples in a Pond” (McCartney)
- “Mountain Top” (McCartney)
- “Down South” (McCartney)
- “We Two” (McCartney, Watt)
- “Come Inside” (McCartney, Watt)
- “Never Know” (McCartney, Watt)
- “Home To Us” featuring Ringo Starr (McCartney, Watt)
- “Life Can Be Hard” (McCartney)
- “First Star of the Night” (McCartney)
- “Salesman Saint” (McCartney)
- “Momma Gets By” (McCartney)
The 706 
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