And the more I listened to it, I agreed, and I decided to make it the centrepiece 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 ****ing 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, **** 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. It was 40 years’ ago and it still seems like last week.” “I went back to Los Angeles last year to visit my eldest son, who lives out there, and I could see the Sunset Marquis and it brought back tons of memories – it was like looking up an old lover. “We used to stay right by the Sunset Strip, playing little venues like the Whisky A Go Go and the Rainbow,” he recalls. It’s that kind of wisdom that starts to make sense as you get older, when you start to reflect on your mortality and your legacy.” Another track, “Sunset”, sees Weller in Los Angeles, reflecting upon his first visits to America with The Jam four decades ago. “There’s a bit in the track ‘Old Father Tyme’ where I sing ‘Time will become you, you will become time’. 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,” says Paul Weller. It’s also an album that sees Weller taking a rare glance into the rear-view mirror as he speeds into the 2020s. At the same time it’s an electronic album, an orchestral album, an album packed with classic pop songs and heart-tugging ballads, and an album filled with touches of experimentalism. Paul Weller’s 15th solo album, On Sunset, is a soul album. “On Sunset” will be Paul’s first release for his new label Polydor Paul Weller today announces the first details of his eagerly awaited new album ‘On Sunset’ which will be released on June 12th. Published on Tuesday, 25 February, 2020 - 12:09 Paul Weller New album 'On Sunset' out June 12th
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