Saturns Pattern
Paul Weller
(Parlophone Records)
Five stars
There's something fitting about Paul Weller releasing his new album only days after a British general election. Weller – whose body of work stretches back 38 years via The Jam, The Style Council and his long solo career – has always been a political musician, even if the activism of his younger years has given way to frustration today. The British political system is rotten, he said recently – but has his music gone that way, too? Thankfully not. Saturns Pattern is Weller's 12th solo album and his first for three years. The Modfather's solo work has tended to switch between moments of extraordinary musical tenderness and full-on audio assault. Both parts of the puzzle are front and centre here. The album's opener White Sky is a five-minute bruiser, full of heavy guitars and angry lyrics, while Going My Way is one of those touching piano-led tracks that Weller has always peppered his work with. I'm Where I Should Be and Phoenix, meanwhile, are both delicious soulful epics. The sound is rich, the music polished, the production exquisite and the man himself is in yet another magical moment.
nmarch@thenational.ae
