You hit solid ground again with “Black River,” a likeably shambling old-fashioned softshoe, right down to the plinky piano; there are spacey sound effects here too (what a weird use of Graham Coxon’s guest turn on guitar), but they actually enhance the song’s jaunty roller-coaster refrain. It’s followed by “Why Walk When You Can Run,” a folky acoustic charmer that you could almost pass off as vintage Cat Stevens. The dangerously yearning tango “One Bright Star,” the folky cello-and-piano valediction “Where’er You Go,” the rollicking shanty “Sea Spray” – they’re all laced with melodic hooks that are totally compelling.
I realize that I’m not even listening to the lyrics at all, which is completely unlike me. I keep trying to focus on the words, but while certain allusive phrases stick out – notably the oft-repeated title phrases – story-telling takes a back seat to mood-setting, and the flow of melody sidetracks me every time.
Not only that, but after a few runs through I find myself looking forward to the instrumental stuff too, like the tender Satie-like piano piece “Lullaby Fur Kinder.” I don’t even skip over the fierce spoken-word track “God.” A couple of the more cacophonous tracks like “Echoes Round the Sun” and “111” still elude me, but strangely enough, I don't switch them off, I just zone out while they're on. (Perhaps that's the most appropriate response, come to think of it – the whole point of those pieces may well be to induce a musical trance. I wouldn’t put that past Paul Weller.) And by now, I'm getting hooked on the flow of the album, feeling how each song dovetails into the next. Not like chapters in a novel or pictures in an exhibition, mind you — they just sound right together. It's baffling indeed.
Bottom line: I still haven’t figured out what this album is “about.” Unless it’s about music – which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be such a bad answer.
Article comments
1 - guitanorak
Its a very mixed album alright I agree. I read on Amazon that Weller said 'I thought the time was right to make the sort of record I wanted to make'. Well I guess he has done just that.
The 'Grandfather' of Brit Rock has spoken :). guitanorak
2 - Christopher Rose
Guitanorak, the "grandfather of Brit Rock"? Wouldn't that be Keith or Mick from the Stones?
Weller was great in The Jam but pretty boring ever since and apparently he might think the same way too based on your quote above...
3 - Holly A Hughes
I think the PR label for Weller lately has been the Modfather -- which is equally silly and pretentious.
Well, I doubt that Paul Weller thinks he's been boring ever since the Jam. He seems to have a pretty healthy estimation of his own talents. Personally I think he's been interesting the whole way through, but he's such a musical shape-shifter, he's bound to alienate fans on every side.