Paul McCartney Announces 18th Solo Album 'The Boys of Dungeon Lane' and New Single

Paul McCartney, 83, announced his 18th solo studio album, "The Boys of Dungeon Lane," on Thursday, March 26, 2026, accompanied by the release of the lead single "Days We Left Behind." The album is scheduled for release on May 29, 2026, and marks his first collection of new songs since "McCartney III" in 2020. Produced by American record producer Andrew Watt, the 14-track record is described as McCartney's most introspective work to date. The album draws on memories of his childhood in postwar Liverpool and his early years alongside John Lennon and George Harrison, long before the Beatles achieved global fame. „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.” — Paul McCartney via The Hollywood Reporter

Dungeon Lane: a Liverpool alley becomes an album title The album's title refers to a specific location near McCartney's childhood home in the Speke neighborhood of Liverpool, a place McCartney says he still sees when he returns home. According to Rai News, posters bearing the "Dungeon Lane" sign and the album name appeared in Liverpool ahead of the official announcement, without initially mentioning McCartney's name. McCartney's brother Mike later confirmed that the posters were designed by his son Josh, connecting the teaser campaign to the family's roots in the city. The album revisits the streets and experiences that shaped McCartney before fame arrived, including afternoons by the Mersey River and early musical adventures with cheap guitars. „I lived in a place called Speke, a rather working-class neighborhood. We had almost nothing, but it did not matter because the people were fantastic and you did not notice that you did not own very much.” — Paul McCartney via Adnkronos The record includes both new love songs and personal reflections on the period before McCartney's rise to international recognition, described by his team as "rare and revealing glimpses into memories never shared before."

Five years in the making, recorded between Los Angeles and Sussex Work on the album began approximately five years ago, following a conversation between McCartney and Andrew Watt over tea, according to The Hollywood Reporter. During that meeting, McCartney was playing guitar and struck a chord he did not immediately recognize, which Watt suggested recording, eventually leading to the album's lead track "As You Lie There." McCartney recorded the album across multiple sessions between Los Angeles and Sussex, fitting the work around his touring schedule over the intervening years. The record is described as "eclectic" in style, with McCartney playing several instruments and exploring different musical directions across its 14 tracks. The lead single "Days We Left Behind" is characterized by an acoustic, nostalgic tone, with McCartney describing it as "a memory song." „The album title, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, comes from a lyric in this track. There is a part in the middle that talks about John and Forthlin Road, the street where I lived. Dungeon Lane is near there.” — Paul McCartney via The Hollywood Reporter

Paul McCartney released his first solo album, "McCartney," in 1970 following the breakup of the Beatles, who had formed in Liverpool in 1960. He subsequently recorded seven studio albums with Wings, the band he formed with his late wife Linda McCartney and guitarist Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues. His most recent solo album before this announcement, "McCartney III," was released in 2020. A documentary about his post-Beatles musical life, "Man on the Run," directed by Morgan Neville, was released in February, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In November, McCartney released a silent track during the reissue of an album to protest a British bill on artificial intelligence that sought to loosen copyright protections, an effort that contributed to the government ultimately reversing course on the legislation.

Intimate Los Angeles shows set for this weekend McCartney is set to perform two intimate shows at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28, 2026. The shows will mark his first performances of 2026, following the conclusion of his Got Back tour in Chicago the previous year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The announcement of the album came just one day before the first of those two shows, pairing the musical reveal with a live debut of new material. 14 (tracks) — total number of songs on The Boys of Dungeon Lane The album is set to arrive on May 29, 2026, more than five years after "McCartney III" established him as a solo artist still capable of generating significant critical and commercial attention at an advanced age.

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