Paul McCartney’s 16th solo studio album was released by Hear Music on 14 October 2013 in the UK, and the following day in the US.

The original idea was to go to a couple of producers whose work I loved, to see who I got on with best – but it turned out I got on with all of them! We made something really different with each producer, so I couldn’t choose and ended up working with all four. We just had a good time in different ways.
Paul McCartney

New’s songs were recorded with four different producers in six recording studios: Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles; Avatar Studios, New York; Abbey Road Studios, London; AIR Studios, London; Wolf Tone Studios, London; and Hog Hill Mill, East Sussex.

What inspired me was Nancy. I had time, but I also had a new love in my life. So what I used to do, because she was in New York a lot of the time, I would wake up early, I’ll take my little girl to school, and then I would come back and write a song. And then when I finish it I knew I could ring her up and say, ‘Do you want to hear a song?’ And I’ll play it to her. It was an exciting motivation. I always knew who I was writing it for. She was the inspiration for a lot of the songs.
Paul McCartney
ABS-CBN, October 2013

Five of the standard edition’s 12 songs – On My Way To Work, Appreciate, Everybody Out There, I Can Bet and Looking At Her – were produced by Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin. Mark Ronson produced Alligator and New; Ethan Johns produced Early Days and Hosanna; and Paul Epworth produced Save Us, Queenie Eye and Road.

Four bonus tracks were released across various editions released in the UK, US, France and Japan; the Japanese deluxe edition was the only one to contain the full set. Get Me Out Of Here and Scared were produced by Giles Martin, while Turned Out and Struggle were produced by Ethan Johns and Paul Epworth respectively.

In the US, Best Buy stores sold the deluxe edition with “collectable photo card set and commemorative ‘New’ album laminate. Target sold a deluxe version with a bonus DVD, A Rendez-Vous With Paul McCartney, which included interviews and backstage footage.

It’s funny, when I play people the album they’re surprised it’s me. A lot of the tracks are quite varied and not necessarily in a style you’d recognise as mine. I didn’t want it to all sound the same. I really enjoyed making this album. It’s always great to get a chance to get into the studio with a bunch of new songs and I was lucky to work with some very cool producers. We had a lot of fun.
Paul McCartney
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