“Cosmic Fringes” is powered by a programmed, four-on-the-floor beat, whooshy synths, feral bass lines and slashing, static-y guitars. It’s immediately clear from the album’s opening cuts that Paul continues to indulge his musical wanderlust. The result is a 12-song set cheerfully entitled Fat Pop (Volume 1), (he’s leaving room for future editions). When those plans were scuttled, he set his disappointment aside and began creating a new record from scratch. Last year, as the pandemic hit Great Britain, Paul was getting ready to release On Sunset, and was keen to tour the world behind it. His last album, On Sunset debuted at #1 and topped myriad critics’ polls in 2020. Continuing the tradition begun during The Jam years, nearly every studio effort landed in the British Top 5. In the ensuing years there have been 15 solo albums, six EPs, several live records and even a soundtrack score. It was during this era that he earned the affectionate sobriquet, “The Modfather.” Toward the end of the 20 th century, younger, chart-topping bands like Oasis, Blur, Ocean Colour Scene and Pulp, began name-checking Paul as a huge influence. Embraced by fans and critics alike, it was a muscular synthesis of his myriad inspirations. His self-titled solo album arrived in 1992. At the start of the new decade he began road-testing new solo material on tour. This time he took an extended break from music, (which he began playing professionally as a teen, playing working-man clubs in his hometown, Woking, back the early ‘70s), and spent time with his wife and growing family. Paul pulled the plug on The Style Council in the late ‘80s. As with The Jam, Style Council albums also became firmly entrenched at the top of the British charts. Between 19, the pair, augmented by an everchanging cast of talented musicians, released an EP, five long-players and a live record. Their music presaged artists like Sade, Everything But The Girl, Blow Monkeys and Swing Out Sister. Eschewing his former band’s staccato snarl, he adopted a sound that leaned toward Sophisto-Pop, Soul, Funk and Jazz. He formed The Style Council with keyboard player Mick Talbot. They also almost single-handedly reignited the Mod movement that first took hold in the ‘60s.Īt age 24, Paul walked away from The Jam, intent on following his muse. Their sound was a heady mix of Paul’s earliest influences, Beatles, British Invasion bands and Tamla-Motown, wrapped in snarling and succinct, primitive Punk packaging. In five years, from 1977 to 1982, over the course of six studio albums, a couple of EPs and a live effort, the trio stormed the British charts, most of the time debuting at #1. Paul Weller, in case you aren’t aware, was the leader of one of England’s most seminal Punk bands, The Jam. That’s Paul Weller expounding on the power of music on the title track of his brand spanking new album, “Fat Pop (Volume 1).” Who’s been a friend when you really needed one Halfway through this longer track, the song dissolves into an entrancing 3-minute outro, as smooth and sophisticated as the best of Steely Dan, an enticingly danceable moment that characterises an album that is superbly feel-good without ever being soppy or New Age sweet.“Who’s always there when you really needed them “More”, perhaps the album’s stand-out track, with an almost tropical feel, a jazzy flute and a perfectly-crafted arrangement, suggests that less is truly more, and that chasing after future promise robs us of pleasure in the moment. There is a great deal here about settling for a kind of spiritual surrender, and the bliss of an open heart. The lyrics of “Village” reflect this mood of quiet contentment: “I don’t need all the things you got / I just want wanna be who I want”. Songs like “Old Father Tyme”, and “Baptiste”, with the Hammond organ and baritone sax so present in Sixties soul, showcase a voice that has ripened with age, and which is totally Weller’s own. Weller’s voice is versatile, warm and mellow: he treads the path between country and soul – two close cousins – while remaining true to his English roots, and never pretends to be something that he is not. With subtle cliché-free string support from the Paraorchestra, unobtrusive but atmospheric backing vocals from the sweet-voiced Staves, and perfectly orchestrated horn arrangements (mostly by Steve Triggs), each track – with the exception of the relatively pallid “On Sunset” – is a joy to hear. There is a mellotron and a Moog synthesiser, echoes of Sixties experiment, not least the legacy of The Beatles, but reinvented rather than in a nostalgic heritage mode. Although the sophisticated sounds are steeped in a rich heritage of pop, soul and jazz, the mix feels delightfully fresh. The Modfather has settled into a mature groove: one of his new release’s strongest and most appealing qualities is an impeccable attention to production, in tandem with Jan Stan Kybert.
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