Just before Christmas 2025, a small group of us gathered in London. A handful from Paul\u2019s team and the record label, all in one room, ready to listen. At that point, we had no release date, no artwork, no campaign plan. Just the music, and Paul, walking us through each song, and the stories behind those stories.<\/p>\n
Very quickly, it became clear what this album was about. A collection of memories and storytelling, and who better to guide us through it than the man himself. By the time we left that room, still a few days shy of Christmas, we were full of ideas. How were we going to announce it? When would it come out? What should we do?<\/p>\n
Early-March 2026:\u00a0Birds became central to everything we did\u00a0\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b<\/p>\n
A few months passed and, behind the scenes, things began to take shape. The album artwork was coming together piece by piece, while we were also deep into another project, the Morgan Neville-directed\u00a0Man on the Run\u00a0documentary for Amazon Prime<\/a>. It was a busy start to the year, but it all felt connected, with different chapters of Paul\u2019s story unfolding at once.<\/p>\n Then, as these things tend to do, everything aligned. The pieces fell into place, and a release date was locked in.<\/p>\n Dungeon Lane, as Paul had explained early on, was closely tied to his birdwatching, a place where he could take his bird book and disappear for a while. As we spent more time with the album, it became clear that birds weren\u2019t just a passing reference; the same birds Paul would see on Dungeon Lane began to appear in the artwork, giving us a clear creative thread to follow.<\/p>\n Campaigns don\u2019t always start with a big announcement. Sometimes they begin with something lighter. A small signal. A moment you might miss if you weren\u2019t looking closely. Or in this case, an emoji.<\/p>\n A single bird\u00a0\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b\u00a0began appearing in unexpected places. A social bio here, a caption there. Before long, it had spread across platforms, playful and just cryptic enough to get fans asking questions. We loved watching you piece together the breadcrumb trail.<\/p>\n We took it further with a themed playlist, a collection of bird-related songs <\/a>from across Paul\u2019s catalogue and by now, you knew something was happening.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then, the time had come to announce the album. To uncover it, we asked fans to\u00a0comment a\u00a0\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b\u00a0on Paul\u2019s Instagram<\/a> and shared a small but important sneak peek. That glimpse took you inside Dungeon Lane Caf\u00e9, a location we\u2019d been keeping under wraps. It\u2019s here that a short film unfolds: an\u00a0intimate conversation between McCartney and Mescal<\/a>, which we held back until closer to release. <\/p>\n With announcement day looming, there was one final piece to reveal: a return to L24. Some of you spotted it immediately. Dungeon Lane is of course a real place and, working with Paul’s label team and Google, we hid a clue in plain sight. A young boy stealing\u00a0The Boys of Dungeon Lane\u00a0sign,\u00a0captured on Google Maps<\/a>. Excuse the pun but it really put the album on the map.<\/p>\n That moment of discovery was exactly what we\u2019d hoped for. It was all giving you the puzzle pieces before we announced at the end of March.<\/p>\n April – May 2026: LA and Abbey Road Fan Playbacks<\/p>\n For Paul, it was always important that people didn\u2019t just hear the songs, they experienced it and he wanted to share the stories from album with the fans. Which leads us to the Los Angeles fan playback. Once plans were in motion for an event in the very studio where parts of the album had been recorded, we were faced with a delightful but daunting question: who do we invite?<\/p>\n Some secrets must remain secrets, one doesn’t reveal how we picked fans but it does help\u00a0being signed up to the PaulMcCartney.com newsletter.<\/a> \u00a0Running Paul\u2019s digital platforms comes with its perks; we see the community, recognise the names and the fans who are always there, always engaging, always championing the music.<\/p>\n Selecting the #LA30 wasn\u2019t easy, but what followed made it all worthwhile. Watching that group \u2018Come Together\u2019, not just as attendees but as a shared experience, and hearing that friendships have grown from it since is exactly why moments like this matter. From a desk in London to something that resonates all the way across Los Angeles, it\u2019s a pretty special part of the job.<\/p>\n A few weeks later, Paul brought it back home. Abbey Road Studios, of course, needs no introduction. There\u2019s a sense of history you feel the moment you step through the doors. This time, we worked with a range of partners to invite guests, but we still kept a handful of spots back for Paul\u2019s most engaged fans.<\/p>\n Another group of fans, another room filled with anticipation, and another chance to hear these songs in the way they were intended, surrounded by story, context and an atmosphere you simply can\u2019t replicate anywhere else. It was a real privilege to bring the album to fans first and help give people a day they will never leave behind.<\/p>\n April 2026: Capturing the artwork coming to life<\/p>\n One of the most distinctive parts of this album lies not just in what you hear, but in what you see.<\/p>\n The artwork for\u00a0The Boys of Dungeon Lane\u00a0is a world, created by\u00a0designer David Lane\u00a0in close collaboration with Paul. Richly layered and deeply personal, it draws from a vast archive of imagery to create something that feels both intimate and expansive.<\/p>\n In April, we had the pleasure of stepping inside that world, heading to the studio of silkscreen artist Kate Gibb to capture the artwork coming to life.<\/p>\n Kate\u2019s process is meticulous and entirely hands-on. From the cover through to the intricate inner collage, every element is carefully built-up layer by layer using traditional silkscreen techniques. The inner artwork alone is a multi-layered composition, created using more than 100 archive images, including previously unseen photographs from Paul\u2019s personal collection.<\/p>\n Seeing these elements in isolation is one thing. Watching them take shape in real time is something else entirely. Sheets are pulled, colours are laid down, and with each pass, new details begin to emerge. What starts as fragments slowly becomes a complete picture, full of texture, depth and meaning. It mirrors the album itself, each layer contributing to a bigger story.<\/p>\n Capturing this process on camera brought a new dimension to the artwork. It allowed us not only to showcase the final pieces, but to reveal the craft behind them and the human touch within every print.<\/p>\n As Paul put it in our TikTok LIVE, the intention was to create something you could\u00a0keep looking at forever\u2026 we did that with the\u00a0Sgt. Pepper\u00a0cover, we wanted you to just pore over it.<\/p>\n From concept to creation, it\u2019s a reminder that the visual world of an album can be just as creative and considered as the music itself.<\/p>\n May 27th 2026:\u00a0Live on TikTok it\u2019s Paul McCartney<\/p>\n One of the joys of working on a new Paul album is that the possibilities feel endless. The challenge isn\u2019t finding ideas; it\u2019s choosing between them. So when we began mapping out the campaign, TikTok was an obvious part of the conversation. As soon as we had a clearer picture of the release, we reached out to explore what might be possible on the platform.<\/p>\n What followed was something genuinely unique: a\u00a0special TikTok LIVE<\/a>\u00a0edition of\u00a0the website feature \u2018You Gave Me the Answer\u2019. Watching it unfold in real time was, in a word, surreal. Thousands of questions flying in, fans from across the world tuning in simultaneously, and Paul right at the centre of it, relaxed, engaged and clearly enjoying himself.<\/p>\n Over one million of you tuned in, which still feels incredible to say. From our side, trying to keep track of everything was\u2026 an experience. But a very good one.<\/p>\n May 29th\u00a0and beyond:\u00a0This album is now yours\u2026<\/p>\n And then, the moment finally came. The album was out in the world, in your hands. With a little help from our friend, and Paul\u2019s nephew, Josh McCartney, we captured that journey in a short clip,\u00a0taking the LP from Dungeon Lane right through to you<\/a>.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve loved most since release is seeing how you\u2019ve responded. The music, the stories, the memes on TikTok, the deep dives into lyrics, the\u00a0Chicken Shop Date\u00a0reactions<\/a>, and the genuine affection people have shown for this album. It\u2019s been a real pleasure watching it all unfold online, and an even greater privilege to reflect that back to Paul.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been enjoying sharing in those moments too, celebrating with fans through fun videos<\/a> and the cherry on top? Seeing the album\u00a0reach Number One<\/a>\u00a0in the UK and even more charts around the world. So, let\u2019s bring this full circle. For us, this campaign began last December in London, in a room with songs and stories. Now we found ourselves back in London again, this time at the Roundhouse. Instead of Paul and his team, it was shared with fans who had travelled from across the country and around the world to be there.<\/p>\n![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cmqi3fev8l0y207mhx58ex358.jpeg\"\/)
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\u2060Wednesday 10th\u00a0June 2026: It all goes full circle at the Roundhouse<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cmqi41wq5mh2806mnt4tmpy3c.jpeg\"\/)
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