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Soulful Sunshine Songs Regarded as one of the UK’s most successful songwriters, Paul Weller’s 15th solo album is set for release early in July. He speaks to Neill Barston about coping with lockdown, a dislike of music streaming, and hoped-for plans to resume a UK tour this autumn.
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s Paul Weller explains, in spite of all else For his own part, he’s recently completed final production happening out there in the world that has created work on his latest album, On Sunset, which notably stands many uncertainties, he feels fortunate and as his 15th solo recording. Lead single ‘Earth Beat’ offers a contented. Having turned 62 in May, it seems lush slice of soul pop, which is swiftly followed by ‘Village’, he is very much at ease with himself these days, some which neatly sums up its optimistic spirit that seems distance from the widely perceived image of the ‘angry refreshingly relaxed amid these complex, challenging times. young man’ of his early career fronting The Jam. “I don’t It’s a consistent theme across a record that places centre really celebrate birthdays, but my daughter shares mine, so stage some of the soul motifs belying his earliest musical it’s very much about her,” he gestures breezily, explaining influences. There are also touches of electronica and that if anything, he’s enjoying songwriting more than ever, orchestral arrangements that reveal he’s keen to experiment and is in a rich vein of creativity. musically when the mood takes him. The ‘Modfather’ belongs in that most rare of categories: “I wouldn’t say making music has got any harder. I think an artist who has successfully I’m actually enjoying the reinvented himself over the I’ve actually been very focused being process and the writing a lot course of more than 40 years. now than I ever did at home these past few weeks, doing a more He’s managed to walk the line before in terms of recording. lot of writing” between classic rock, punk and I have a great respect and new wave, through to 60s soul appreciation for it,” says Weller, that inspired the Style Council, and later balladry that has who coproduced the new album with long-term collaborator equally attracted critical acclaim and resonated with longJan ‘Stan’ Kybert, whose long list of credits include working term fans. with the likes of Oasis, The Verve and Massive Attack. His last recording two years ago, True Meanings, narrowly “I wanted to do an album that was soulful and also had missed becoming Weller’s fifth number one solo album, an electronic edge to it. Most of the songs on it are quite but having consciously built it around the lilting lullaby of uplifting, and to me it’s a sunshine record. With ‘Village’, ‘Gravity’, he says that it placed him in a strong position. like a lot of my songs, there’s a lot of me in there, so there’s While the unwelcome arrival of the coronavirus pandemic a key idea, but then you make it broader to be about other may have scratched out his latest round of UK gigs, he has people.” instead been squirrelling himself away in his beloved Surrey His previous recordings have been noted for a careful studio, Black Barn, to lay down new material. “I’ve actually sprinkling of notable guests down the years, and his latest been very focused being at home these past few weeks, follows in this pattern. There are appearances from his old doing a lot of writing, as well as some more recording in the friend Mick Talbot from Style Council days, Slade’s Jim Lea studio. To be honest, these days when I am not working, I playing violin on the very 60s-influenced ‘Equanimity’, and am actually home quite a lot with my wife and kids as we’ve several backing vocal tracks from indie outfit The Staves. been home schooling. I haven’t really been bothered by the As for the album’s title track, he says ‘On Sunset’ was lockdown, other than having to queue for food or medicine,” inspired by catching up with his eldest son in Los Angeles, he offers of the present situation that has placed the music which holds particularly strong memories for him as a industry, as much as the wider economy, largely on pause. teenager on his first tour of America. Beyond music, family is clearly a major priority, and he “I was out near the Whisky a Go Go club in LA and hadn’t seems pleased at least two of his eight children – including really walked that area of the city since I was 19. A huge daughter Leah – have shown real musical ability. He quips amount of time has elapsed since then, so it’s a reflective that “they sometimes patronise me ” in a fashion only song about that. It also became something else about being children can achieve with their parents. in a place in time looking for old friends and lovers and how JULY 2020 OX MAGAZINE
