The Boys of Dungeon Lane

The Boys of Dungeon Lane is a joyous late-career reminder of McCartney’s melodic genius.

McCartney's gift for hummable pop songcraft endures and more than one of these songs is likely to pop into your head days after listening. Yet, it's all those little moments on The Boys of Dungeon Lane and the way McCartney brings his past to life that makes the album one of his most affecting.

The Boys of Dungeon Lane is a richly nostalgic trip that proves this legend is still as creative as ever.

The overblown pop-rock of ‘Ripples On A Pond’ and ‘Come Inside’, and the ‘70s’ chug-a-lug rock of ‘Lost Horizon’, remind us that Macca was in Wings too, but overall, this is a welcome return from the master.

Aided by producer wunderkind Andrew Watt, McCartney delivers some of his most personal and introspective songwriting in years, and makes amends for a few recent misfires.

On one hand, The Boys of Dungeon Lane is a good but not great collection of songs, but on the other, also perhaps the best album ever recorded by an 83-year-old?

In looking back at his storied past, Paul McCartney offers a record which proves he's never been more alive.

A postcard to his younger self, this album is a fine addition to the McCartney canon.

The Boys Of Dungeon Lane does everything a Paul McCartney album should do. The vulnerability in his voice adds a peculiar charm: it’s a man looking at an ever-decreasing road ahead with his trademark optimism.

Tenderness abounds on this intimate, reflective set.

The melodic gift and residual optimism ultimately carry the day aided by the canny ear for a guitar riff that characterised Wings.

Some songs, like "Ripples In A Pond" (A pop song for his wife Nancy), hit with the contemporary Andrew Wyatt wallop, which is very much why musicians in their ninth decades so revere his production; but as ever, it's the bits where McCartnet lets appearances be damned that work out best.

From nostalgic returns to his Liverpool childhood to a crazed Glastonbury fantasia, these are songs written with real purpose and a master’s finesse.

With a little help from Ringo, pop’s twinkly eyed granddad gets nostalgic on an album that also finds him pushing forward musically.