Paul McCartney announces nostalgic new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane

Paul McCartney has announced his first new album in six years, described as a "collection of revealing glimpses" into "never-before shared" memories. The Boys Of Dungeon Lane was inspired by his childhood in post-war Liverpool, and named after a road in Speke that leads to the Mersey shore, where the young McCartney would spend afternoons bird-watching. The first single, Days We Left Behind, premiered on BBC Radio Merseyside, and finds the singer in a wistful, nostalgic mood. Over a simple acoustic backing, he reminisces about "smokey bars and cheap guitars", observing that while Liverpool is always changing, "nothing can erase the days we left behind". Singing in a delicate falsetto, his voice conveys some of the frailty of age, lending the song a powerful emotional punch. Then, in the middle eight, he offers an intimate reflection on the beginnings of the Beatles, at his childhood home in Liverpool. "We met on Forthlin Road / And wrote a secret code / Never to be spoken." "This is very much a memory song for me," said the 83-year-old in a press release announcing his new album. "I do often wonder if I'm just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything