About this episode

The episode discusses Paul McCartney's new album and its connections to his early life in Liverpool and the Beatles.

Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, arrived when McCartney was 83 and and he came out swinging: the opening track greets listeners with a dissonant, unresolved guitar chord that sets the album's tone. Harmonic instability runs through the entire record: chromatic mediants, deceptive cadences, and persistent pedal tones prevent even the most nostalgic songs from settling into comfort. The album's lyrics focus on McCartney's pre-Beatles Liverpool youth, territory unfamiliar even to long-time fans. The songs pay deliberate sonic tribute to specific Beatles recordings: Mellotron strings echoing "Strawberry Fields Forever," a backwards laugh tape loop answering "Tomorrow Never Knows," a first-ever McCartney/Starr vocal duet so close in timbre the two voices are nearly indistinguishable. Songs discussed:Paul McCartney – "Mull of Kintyre"Paul McCartney – "As You Lie There"The Beatles – "Blackbird"The Beatles – "Helter Skelter"The Beatles – "You Never Give Me Your Money"Paul McCartney – "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey"Paul McCartney – "Band on the Run"Paul McCartney – "Live and Let Die"Paul McCartney – "Mountaintop"The Beatles – "Being for the…

More episodes of Switched on Pop

• How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris) · June 5, 2026 · 13 min
• Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA) · June 2, 2026 · 52 min
• Drake's Slop Era · May 26, 2026 · 56 min
• Kacey Musgraves walks country’s borderlands · May 19, 2026 · 39 min
• Rostam reimagines American music · May 15, 2026 · 54 min
• Eurovision is back – but not without controversy · May 12, 2026 · 55 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Switched on Pop podcast page.