![]() ![]() Plus, I would have better healthcare for much less money if I were living in the United Kingdom. Over the years, I have felt my tastes in music were more akin with the tastes of my English brethren than like my fellow Americans. And, that is a crime! How is it that such important British artists as Weller, The Smiths, Slade, Status Quo and Stone Roses have had huge careers in their native Great Britain, yet failed to make a significant dent on the charts here in the States? And, these are not the only musicians to fall through the cracks over the years, but they represent some of the more significant UK artists in this situation. Yes, he has garnered all kinds of hit songs over in his native United Kingdom, while here in the States, he has only experienced a small handful of minor hits. Yet, today, I still find that I am not done with Paul Weller. ![]() In retrospect, I probably should have gone all the way and gave him a more appropriate Top 50, but what am I going to do? Probably wait six months to a year or so before revisiting the man and his work. So thanks Paul Weller, keep making great records, now and into tomorrow and beyond.Yesterday, I presented my Top 25 Favorite Songs in the Paul Weller cannon. Perhaps not so overtly as he did in 1982, with me no longer a teen but a middle age dad, he continues to impact me. Despite having met and interviewed him several times over the years, and no doubt pulled a “Chris Farley” while doing so (“remember when you wrote A Town Called Malice… that was awesome!”), I could never truly explain to the man how much his art shaped mine. I love that there are still artists who will probably never know how much they impacted our lives. ![]() Yet, I’m thankful to Weller, for this music that reaches out across the ocean during a pandemic, for checking in and helping me remember Ed, and the friends that I’ve connected with through Weller’s music across the years. I’m saddened not to be able to share first impressions with Ed on this record – I think he would have loved it. Once again in this cruel 2020 I’m missing the late Ed Ackerson of BNLX, Polara, and Flowers Studio, who passed away last October. Hearing a new Weller album also unites – reminding me of conversations over decades about our beloved artistic crush. Both had long careers with plenty of sonic detours and diversions, always returning to the craft of writing and performing brilliant songs that mapped their changes to ours. While that comparison might feel odd stateside, where Weller, unlike Bowie, never rose past cult following, it’s apt. It’s no wonder in the UK press these days he is sometimes compared to David Bowie, another artist who never stopped searching artistically. Paul Weller On Sunset, Polydor 2020 (Art: Ron Hart) But despite one song about Old Father Tyme, and hints of ‘60s influences on tracks like Equanimity, Weller continues to march forward to his own muse. I’m digging the sounds of On Sunset – Weller works with a big group of collaborators (Horns! Strings!) including old friends like Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Craddock and Style Council partner Mick Talbot. Classic! The songs approach from a variety of angles – my favorite is On Sunset, the title track, with lyrical references to LA, palm trees, and the sound of ocean waves mixing with a vibe that recalls ‘70s Curtis Mayfield, one of many artists whom I discovered when Paul led me there with his covers, name checks and homages with The Jam.Īt turns the album is heady, rocking, soulful, thoughtful, psychedelic, yet less “English pastoral folk” than 2018’s True Meanings and less heavy Rock and Soul than 2017’s A Kind Revolution. Packaging is gorgeous – photos of Paul in California, with full color and rounded inner sleeve corners, gatefold jacket, and upon his return to Polydor, that red logo like the one that adorned his earliest releases in The Jam. So while he’s equaled a record only reached by John Lennon and another Paul, who are the only artists with #1 albums in the UK in 5 different decades, in America there’s been little attention paid to this new release – which is a shame, as On Sunset is one of the best solo albums of his career. I hadn’t even realized there was a new album until last week, and when I did I ordered it immediately from the UK. Our relationship picks up right where we left off, and I’m curious and excited to hear where the last year has led him, as we continue our musical journeys. After nearly 40 years of following his career, hearing new songs from Paul Weller is like receiving a letter in the post from a dear friend. ![]()
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