Entertainment

A Kind Of Revolution another bold and adventurous record from Paul Weller

Paul Weller – long may his drive, determination and burning desire to remain musically relevant continue
Paul Weller – long may his drive, determination and burning desire to remain musically relevant continue Paul Weller – long may his drive, determination and burning desire to remain musically relevant continue

PAUL Weller could simply sit comfortably on a chaise longue, wearing a smoking jacket and sipping tea in a stunning mansion in an exclusive leafy London enclave waiting for the postman to slip another royalty cheque through the letter box.

From the music of The Jam to The Style Council to The Paul Weller Movement, to plain old ‘Paul Weller’, the success story certainly leaves the man himself with nothing to prove and everything to be immensely proud of.

However, that drive, determination and burning desire to remain musically relevant and continue to write and perform songs that touch the heart and soul means that Paul Weller simply can’t stop himself from being Paul Weller – and long may it continue.

One of the UK’s most iconic artists, Weller returns with new album, A Kind Revolution, his 13th solo record (including the Paul Weller Movement). Considering that it is preceded also by six Jam albums and as many from the Style Council incarnation, you kind of get the picture where this new outing sits in his amazing and extensive catalogue.

A Kind Revolution sets out its stall as a bold and adventurous record from the beginning, with the buoyant Woo Se Mama and its 60s groove getting proceedings off to a positive and uplifting start. As with recent Weller records, different genres of music get more than a passing nod but with A Kind Revolution he seems to have limited the flights of fancy to a minimum, resulting in a much more coherent product than on Wake Up The Nation or 22 Dreams, for example.

There is also a distinctly optimistic sound to many of the tracks on board – New York is a soulful, up-tempo jam and packs an almost gospel chorus while One Tear featuring Boy George is a Café del Mar style beautifully textured track mixing electronica with classic tremolo guitar.

Weller adopts a more traditional approach on Hopper, a song that sounds more simplistic and organic and seems to blend The Beatles with Van Morrison. Best track on the album, though, in my opinion, is the killer outer space rock n roll sound that is Nova.

Weller gets stuck in here and the song is very reminiscent of David Bowie – encompassing DB moments like The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell, New Killer Star and Suffragette City.

A Kind Revolution is probably Weller’s most enjoyable album since Heavy Soul or Stanley Road and finds him in highly creative form and with his vocal sounding in its best shape for years.

Of course, it isn’t as good as Wildwood – then again, very little is.