It’s pretty wonderful in the year 2026 to be adding another Paul McCartney album as our Album of the Week. In the past few years he’s been looking more to the past (Get Back documentary, the Man on the Run Wings film) but this is really his most nostalgic effort in an album as a whole. It’s beautiful, and his aged voice suits the songs and perspective perfectly.
McCartney’s 20th solo studio album the album serves as a prequel to his fame—”the story before the story.” It is heavily inspired by his childhood memories growing up in post-WWII Liverpool. The title itself comes from a 1991 demo lyric (“In Liverpool”), referencing Dungeon Lane, a road in the Speke area where he grew up.
Producer Andrew Watt (most known to us through the Rolling Stones’ last excellent album) has done a sterling job guiding McCartney through producing a set of really genuine and melodic songs, playing the majority of instruments himself. There are some nice collaborations though with Ringo Starr contributing drums and vocals to “Home To Us” and vocals from Chrissy Hynde (Pretenders) and Sharleen Spiteri (Texas).
The critics have been pretty kind with The Telegraph awarding it 5 stars, with critic Neil McCormick calling it “as good as anything [McCartney] has given us in the last 50 years.”
New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen on our website - https://www.nznetradio.net.nz/listen
