Paul talks 2017 album, "High in the Clouds" film in new interview

Paul McCartney has a new Q&A in the Washington Post today and drops hints about upcoming projects, including a hoped for new LP in 2017 and his work on the animated adaptation of his 2005 children's book "High in the Clouds."
Do you walk around with an iPhone and record bits when you get them?
Yeah, if you get a good idea. Or you see something. I either make a note in my notepad or do a little voice memo. Just to remind myself exactly the feel of the song. But it does mean you have a lot of fragments and you’ve got to figure out a way of piecing those together. So what I’ve done with our promoter is I’ve said, I think the last gigs are the end of October sometime. After that, I don’t want to take any more engagements this year. I’d like to get an album by next year.

What exactly are you working on in the studio?
I’m working on a film project that I’m writing some songs for. An animated film thing. The film thing, I don’t like it. Because you’re totally gung-ho and you’re doing it and somebody rings you up and says, “Well, it’s on hold.” One of the characters in our film, I’d rung up Lady Gaga and asked her to sing this song. It came out really good, but we can’t do anything with it until the film gets made. You feel like sometimes you’re walking in treacle. We made a start on it and once we get the go-ahead I will finish up the other songs and record them, and there’s one more I’d like Gaga to do.

He also addresses the lack of any tunes from his acclaimed Flowers in the Dirt album on his new Pure McCartney compilation - something that's been bugging many fans:
I want to get to this new compilation you put out, “Pure McCartney.” What I like is that it feels like a mix tape.

That was the original thought. It was like a playlist. The ideal thing is if you’ve got a three-hour car journey and you’ve got the perfect thing to listen to, he said modestly.
 
How involved did you get in the song selection?
To tell you the truth, this was an idea that was put to me by one of my girls in my New York office, who I respect and is sort of a great music fan and connoisseur. She said, I’ve been listening and putting together playlists and I think it would be great to do this. So she came up with the first playlist. Then I got involved.
 
What’s her name?
Her name is Nancy Jeffries.
 
I want to lodge just one complaint with Nancy Jeffries. “Flowers in the Dirt.” I could go on and on about what’s wonderful about that album. And there’s not a song from it.

You know why, because it’s about to be reissued. It’s our next big box set. We’re working on that at the moment. So she would avoid that.

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