Paul McCartney to release pop standards album

Paul McCartney has announced that he's in the process of recording an album of pop standards.

The former Beatle - who confirmed his engagement to Nancy Shevell earlier this month - told Rolling Stone that he's been waiting many years to record cover versions of the songs of his late father James's generation.

"It's my dad's style of music," McCartney said. "I've wanted to do that kind of thing forever, since the Beatle days. But then Rod [Stewart] went mad on it. I thought, 'I have to wait so it doesn't look like I'm trying to do a Rod'."

While he refused to reveal the tracklist for the upcoming album, McCartney did disclose that he recently spent time recording in LA with jazz pianist Diana Krall and will embark on a series of London sessions in the coming weeks.

The singer went on to explain that his ultimate goal is to create an LP that his fans can listen to when they need to unwind.

"They're just songs I admire," he remarked. "I'm trying to steer away from the obvious ones."

McCartney added: "It's get-home-from-work music. You put it on and get a glass of wine."

A firm release date has yet to be confirmed, but the 'Maybe I'm Amazed' singer expects the record to be available for purchase next year.

Discussing plans for a return to rock music, McCartney revealed that he's already had discussions with Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl about a follow-up to 2007's Memory Almost Full, which reached the top five on both the US and UK album charts.

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Watch Paul McCartney perform jazz standard 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' below: