Paul McCartney announces new album Egypt Station

Paul McCartney has announced Egypt Station, his 17th solo studio album.

It will be released by Capitol Records on 7 September 2018, on compact disc, standard 140g vinyl, limited edition 180g deluxe coloured vinyl, and a super deluxe box set. See the options on McCartney’s official site.

The announcement follows a series of cryptic messages on McCartney’s social media accounts, beginning on 10 June 2018 with a doodle which appeared to show a pyramid or train track:

pic.twitter.com/TZ8VeKEv8f

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 10, 2018

There were also six monochrome shots, of musical equipment or McCartney alone in a recording studio, leading to speculation that the new album title might be McCartney III.

On 17 June a train ticket image was posted, establishing the theme for the album’s artwork:

pic.twitter.com/ptpbhvghNt

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 17, 2018

The first key clue to the title was an image of a torn ticket, which appeared to show the letters “…PT” and “…ON” along with some faint heirglyphics:

pic.twitter.com/znKZ84KRH8

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 17, 2018

On the morning of 18 June, McCartney’s birthday, a new image was published which featured pyramids and palm trees, the clearest indication that the new release would have an Egypt theme.

pic.twitter.com/351RbE9Agh

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 18, 2018

The full title was revealed later in the day:

#PaulMcCartney #EgyptStation pic.twitter.com/40o6Mo81lB

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) June 18, 2018

The first single from the album was the double a-side I Don’t Know/‘Come On To Me’, which was released on the same day of the album’s announcement.

Egypt Station was originally a piece of art by Paul McCartney. Two hundred lithographs went on sale in 1988.

200 Impressions
Paper size: 25 ½” x 33 ½”
Image size: 15 ½” x 19 ½”

Here’s McCartney’s description of the artwork, from the McCartney Art website:

My original inspiration was similar to a picture we were talking about the other day, with Egyptian symbols and shapes I got from looking at a reference book on Egypt. I was interested in the way they drew sunflowers, so two appear on the left and on the right. It was a nice shape, so I took that and then I also love the way they symbolize trees. I like the way they reduce a tree to just some very simple symbols.