Contrary to reports last week, Sir Paul McCartney‘s forthcoming new release will not be titled ‘My Valentine.’ The as of yet untitled album will, however, be released on Feb. 7, and will still be a collection of love songs from an era long gone by, with two new McCartney compositions added into the mix.

Paul lays out his concept for the collection this way, “When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them. I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys – I just thought the songs were magical. As I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those songs.”

Not your cookie cutter album of ‘standards’, the songs chosen were all very personal and significant to Sr Paul and in most cases his love for them can be traced back to his childhood. “It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices, so many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people. I hope they are in for a pleasant surprise.” Making an album like this is something McCartney has wanted to do for quite some time now, but for one reason or another the idea kept getting pushed to the back burner. Paul adds, “In the end it was ‘look, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.’”

Not only was the idea of an album like this new ground to conquer, but so was the actual recording. This was the first time Paul has ever made an album where he was simply, ‘the vocalist.’ The band, on loan from jazz diva Diana Krall, provide a suitable backdrop that make these songs come to life. “It was very spontaneous, kind of organic, which then reminded me of the way we’d work with the Beatles,” Paul explained. “We’d bring a song in, kick it around, and by the time everyone kind of had an idea of what they were doing, we did the take live in the studio.” In addition, the album also features a little help from his friends Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.

The song ‘My Valentine’ will be streamed exclusively on PaulMccartney.com to premium members for 24 hours only, starting today, Monday Dec. 19.

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