During the final days of the Jam, he developed a fascination with Motown and soul, which led him to form the sophisti-pop group the Style Council in 1983. On Sunset is out now and can be bought here.As the leader of the Jam, Paul Weller fronted the most popular British band of the punk era, influencing legions of English rockers ranging from his mod revival contemporaries to the Smiths in the '80s and Oasis in the '90s. Every track here reflects that obsession.” Music is my obsession, it’s my education, it’s my entertainment, it’s the way that I communicate, it’s everything to me. ![]() It gives me hope that there is still so much amazing music being made. I’m 62 this year and I’m still seeking out new stuff every day. “I find it depressing when people get to a certain age and stop listening to new music. “I’m still excited by what’s new,” says Weller. It’s a dimension to music I’ve only really started to explore recently.” Hannah was able to transform my ideas into something unique, something that matched the ideas that I had in my head but took them into new territory. “There were tracks like ‘More’ where I was after something inspired by Roy Ayers’ ‘We Live In Brooklyn’, or tracks like ‘Sunset’ where I wanted something like Lalo Schifrin. “Hannah’s a genius orchestrator,” he says. Where his last album, 2018’s True Meanings, was a largely drumless, acoustic affair, featuring string arrangements by Game Of Thrones composer Hannah Peel, On Sunset sees Weller integrating these lavish orchestrations into a more orthodox band context. ![]() It’s such a beautiful, timeless image, about the transformative power of music.” It’s a feeling I remember from going clubbing as a kid, and it’s a feeling I still get today when I hear songs I love. It might be a 1920s ballroom, a psychedelic rave, the Wigan Casino, the Twisted Wheel or some techno club, but it’s the same thing – being on the dancefloor turns you into a shining star. When I wrote the song I had images of all these kids, throughout the ages, queuing up to get into their favourite nightclub, ready to transform themselves on the dancefloor, under the mirror ball. And the more I listened to it, I agreed, and I decided to make it the centre-piece of a new album. “I was going to use ‘Mirror Ball’ as a b-side or something, but everyone I played it to said it was too f_king good. On Sunset started to take form as Weller was completing True Meanings in the spring of 2018, with the track “Mirror Ball”. The final track, “Rockets” is a quietly furious rant about destiny and the lack of class mobility, disguised as a dramatic Bowie-ish ballad. “And there’s a guy who says, f_k all that, I’ve got heaven around me.” On “Equanimity” Weller writes about dealing with marital discord (“it’s a word we can all use to calm ourselves down!”) on “More” he reflects on the ceaseless desire to accumulate wealth without any emotional consideration. “It’s a response to being told that we’ve all got to explore the Amazon and climb Everest to make our lives complete,” says Weller. “Village”, a dreamy meditation co-written with producer Jan ‘Stan’ Kybert, is sung from the decidedly un-rock’n’roll perspective of a man who is entirely happy with his state in life. But lyrically, Weller – back on his old home, Polydor Records for the first time since The Style Council days – is starting to look back on the past with the insight of age. The sense of retrospection is not musical – Weller retains a rigorous forward-looking focus when it comes to seeking out the best contemporary music. And I think that’s started to come out in my lyrics.” ![]() I’ve got three young children, and I can now look at things with much more clarity than I’ve ever been able to. In the last ten years I’ve given up the booze and got clean. Turning 60 could be something that triggers some kind of crisis in a lot of people, but it’s calmed me down and inspired me to create in the best way. “A lot of the lyrics are about looking back, from the point of view of a sixty-something man, not with regret or sadness, but with huge optimism. “One thing that seems to unite much of this album is a sense of reflection,” Weller says. It’s also an album that sees Weller taking a rare glance into the rear-view mirror as he speeds into the 2020s.” The record is billed as “a soul album, but also an electronic album, an orchestral album, an album packed with masterly pop songs and heart-tugging ballads, and an album filled with touches of experimentalism. Paul Weller’s much-anticipated new album On Sunset is out now through Polydor Records.
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