CD REVIEW: PAUL WELLER – A Kind Revolution

Shane | 23 August 2017 | Reply

CD REVIEW: PAUL WELLER – A Kind Revolution
Parlophone
May 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

Paul Weller is at his rootsy best on A Kind Revolution, tapping wonderfully into the ‘60s R&B vibe which first influenced him and his contemporaries so strongly.

The set opens with Woo Sé Mama, a soulful groove whose woop n’ holler seems at odds with the spiky social commentary that was his mainstay in The Jam – but Weller has never been one to trade on past glories.

Nova features a totalitarian, Bowie flavour, its electronic beeps and sonic washes giving this starker, colder track texture and an aloof grace, before Long Long Road’s almost Phil Spector/Wall of Sound big production.

“And every footstep that I’ve taken
Was just one step
I took to you”

The lyrics say it all – older, wiser, more dignified than his younger self, Weller seems more thankful than ever for being just where he needs and wants to be right now. A love letter to a soulmate, a muse, his audience, or to his own truth, this is The Modfather at his best.

Robert Wyatt contributes vocals and trumpet to She Moves With the Fayre, while Boy George takes a co-vocal on One Tear, an electronic foray that tries to make sense of our chaotic world.

The 3CD version features instrumental versions of the entire album, as well as a disc of remixes.

Weller’s songwriting is at the heart of A Kind Revolution, his melodicism at its finest. These are songs which find a home in your heart and mind instantly, their tunes as in sync with ourselves as their lyrics should be to us all. A Kind Revolution seems to be Weller’s way of growing old gracefully, and instead of crying for the rebellion of his youth, gently saying, “it’s time for some changes.”