His first new studio release in six years, Paul McCartney has made this project no secret. He may have been on the road for the Got Back tour these last few years and tinkering away at a send-off to The Beatles with Now and Then, but the veteran songwriter made it clear he had new material on the way. Polishing that off amid a global tour and anniversary packages galore for the Fab Four and Wings, the latter receiving a new compilation album, a lacklustre documentary, and a whole book of interview snippets, is a sign the McCartney machine had been working overtime. It all felt like cleaning house before a gasp of new material, Days We Left Behind. A fully-fledged album, one closer in scope and style to Egypt Station than the self-titled trilogy cap he tinkered with during the COVID lockdown. His return to the studio is a welcome one, and what The Boys of Dungeon Lane’s lead single proves is what listeners already knew. McCartney can still rock it.
A debut play on BBC Radio Merseyside feels right at home for McCartney, and not just because of the hometown roots. The veteran performer is a household name just like the Beeb, holding a legacy like no other. It feels suitable, as well, that The Boys of Dungeon Lane is set to home in on those hometown experiences. Pairing that with the domestic bliss featured in some of McCartney’s best songs, and the legendary frontman has another late-stage hit on his hands. Context as to what a hit now means matters. McCartney is no stranger to topping the charts. His name alone is enough to propel him there despite the wider criticism he receives from the public as a has-been, particularly after his exceptional Glastonbury Festival show. Those detractors are quiet now. Consider the softer flourish of Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, McCartney disarmed by a capable producer, and you can feel the same within Days We Left Behind.
McCartney has offered biographical writings in his time, and they are often his best works. The aforementioned Chaos and Creation in the Backyard had an upbeat sensibility to it, while Ram offered a look into the Kintyre living all while roaming through experimental pop. McCartney has taken a new turn here, a soft-spoken offering which lays the effects of decades of work on his vocal range clear. His raspy turn is likeable, a surprise to hear after the strength of his live performances over the last few years, but suitable to the tone of the song all the same. Stories of Mersey life, his youth now an open subject for scrutiny not just from an autobiographical twist on Days We Left Behind, but for listeners who may know more than the passing listener. It’s fuel for an already raging fire.
Acoustic charms and an emotionally charged contemplation of youth will always linger as profoundly moving, not because of the writing strength but because it’s honest and open. The time between the memories and now is what lingers long after the end of Days We Left Behind. Liverpudlian memories is all this is, but the context is clear. Those who are well-versed with the tragedy and success of McCartney’s early years, bearing in mind by the time he’d left The Beatles he was just twenty-seven, the overlap between chart-topping success and personal hardship is pulled from well. A lot has happened to McCartney, and he manages to cram in plenty for Days We Left Behind. It’s a calm start to what could easily shift into nostalgia fodder. But McCartney is one of the best to ever enter a studio, and even the best can reflect with the nuance and lyrical depth necessary to evoke nostalgia. Bob Dylan does it. Neil Young did it. McCartney proves he too can do it with Days We Left Behind.
