Back in 2007, Paul McCartney released an underappreciated album called “Memory Almost Full.” A smartly nostalgic song called “My Ever Present Past” was the highlight. The singer was starting to explore his extraordinary life with disarming honesty.
As it turns out, that song may have presaged “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” McCartney’s most satisfying album since — I’m not kidding — “Flaming Pie” in 1997. “Dungeon Lane” is a triumph on every track, no duds, a total vision that recalls Paul’s best work. We actually don’t deserve it.
Really? McCartney’s almost 84. His voice may not be as supple as it once was, but 70 years of singing rock and roll will take its toll on anyone. He’s also spent much of his career competing with himself, which is no easy task. Still, “Dungeon Lane” is a remarkably well produced, beautifully written group of 14 songs full of vigor and keen observations about his, well, ever present past.
You never know with McCartney. With the whole Beatles and Wings catalog behind him, he has nothing left to prove. Approaching “Dungeon Lane,” you wonder what dormant micron was left in his brain that could produce this particular concoction. But then again, we have no template for an almost 70 year career.
You do know something is up with the opening track. “As You Lie There” — the first of five songs written with producer Andrew Watt — starts with McCartney narrating his own memoir, and positions the whole project as a sort of documentary. It sets the stage for what’s to come. Deceptively, it seems like a reverie, but then Paul turns up the volume and makes this moment almost a sinister vibration. It feels like a kid torn between sweet love and obsessing over a woman he imagines across the street.
If you’re looking for singles, McCartney doles them out beginning with track 2, “Lost Horizon,” the first of several tracks that are meant for singing along with the radio up loud. I can only hope Paul agrees because this is the hit this album needs to cross over into the public. (It begs for a slightly longer version.)
The next group are instantly accessible songs pop rock delights like the deliriously happy love story “Ripples On A Pond,” a walk down memory lane to hitchhiking with George Harrison in “Down South,” and the trippy “Mountaintop.” These three follow “Days We Left Behind,” itself a deceptively simple memory track that only reveals itself after repeated plays.
At that point, a path has been established by McCartney and Watt. We turn toward some more serious undertakings like “Never Know,” my current favorite track, an rock-n-blues track about the uncertainty of being in love, with the line “My mind is black and blue.” Wait. Stop. You start thinking about the lyrics throughout this album. They’re also McCartney’s best in about 30 years. “Never Know” also culminates in a traditional McCartney coda, an instrumental re-setting of the musical theme stated up front.
In a Q&A online, McCartney plays dumb about “Home to Us,” a number so crafted for him and Ringo Starr it’s ridiculously sublime. Ringo should be performing this all summer with his All Starr Band. It’s a new custom made repainted “Yellow Submarine.” It should also a hit somewhere in the multiverse. Listen to it once, you will never stop humming.
Paul saves the best for last Four songs in a row to the end of the album start with the breey, lighthearted “Life Can Be Hard,” that swells with a stripped down orchestral arrangement. The bridgein that song is a lovely piece of architecture. “First Star of the Night” is a sweet melody no one else could have written. “Salesman Saint” follows, one of the few actual autobiographical songs, about his parents. And then McCartney finishes off with “Momma Gets By,” a stunning, lush and melancholy ballad that tells a story — he’s ever the wistful paperback writer — like “ady Madonna,” “She’s Leaving Home” or “Another Day.”
Do we call “The Boys of Dungeon Lane” a masterpiece? We’re pretty lucky to get this album from Paul McCartney after everything else he’s given us in this lifetime. In interviews, he always brushes off compliments. But of course after almost seven decades, what’s he going to say? A few years ago, when Stephen Colbert asked how he wrote all these songs, he finally suggested, “Or maybe I’m just a genius.”
I think that’s the answer.
One last thing: get the CD or the LP — there are plenty of versions offered. This album is so well made by Watt — who also produced the new Rolling Stones album — it must be heard through real stereo speakers if not really good headphones. Just playing it on a phone demeans the work.
“The Boys of Dungeon Lane” appears on Thursday just after midnight in all forms and on all platforms.
