NEW ALBUM: Paul Weller - "fat pop: volume 1"

[CRAZY-HORSE]

deezer listen:

his sixteenth solo studio set, 26th overall...
not strictly 'alternative' as it could be in pop/dance, soul,easy listening/soft rock.
anyway....
album opens with with a blistering Kraut Rock type track then something a little softer,
there's pure pop on here, one or two that appear to use programmed drum machines and synths but that said, guitars are never far from the fore...
theres a Gospel sounding track (no black mamas, just the band), something that could have been lifted from Traffic's 'john barleycorn' album, a bit of funk and some psuedo-reggae sounds and a further return to 'blue eyed soul' which is never far from front and centre of his career over the last 35 years...
so after all the enjoyment i felt a bit underwhelmed with the closing track, a piano ballad that just seemed out of place with the rest of the album.
album themes appear to be introverted and retrospective as at times he ponders what might have been if he had failed as a musician, seeing himself in the mirror and not believing what he has achieved in 40+ years etc....
all up, a nice listen, a simple straightforward album without the pretence of experimentation we have heard over the last decade.
a pleasant return to form IMO
and one last thought:
is Weller pre-empting the continuing Covid stalemate with ongoing lockdowns and assuming he'll have more time in the studio???

favorite, the almost breezy blues of JJ Cale mixed with the '70s Kinks

[CRAZY-HORSE]

five track live 'in studio' performance to promote the album as tours are obviously off the table ATM....

pretty good effort, sounds better than the reocrded versions IMO