Von Splinters
**************************************
The wait is over. Three years on from ‚Illumination‘ and a year since
his highly acclaimed covers album ‚Studio 150‘, you have in your
hands fourteen new songs from Paul Weller, entitled simply ‚As Is
Now‘. The good news doesn’t end there. Fired up by both his break
from writing and the resurgence in British guitar bands -many of whom
were inspired to pick up a guitar in the first place by Paul- ‚As Is
Now‘ is quite simply a milestone record; a dazzling return to the
form which made ‚Wildwood‘ and ‚Stanley Road‘ central texts to
Britpop a decade ago.
„I felt that I needed a break from writing songs, but I didn’t want
to do a covers record until I felt the time was right “ he explains.
„But doing ‚150‘ gave me the space to not worry about it for a while.
And then suddenly a whole load of songs came along at once…“
Work on ‚As Is Now‘ started, as customary, with Paul working on demos
at his own personal studio Black Barn. However, following his
rapturously received Spring tour-which culminated in an emotional
string of gigs at the Hammersmith Apollo- Paul decided to bring the
band into the studio immediately to capture both their intensity and
explosive energy on tape.
„It was the best thing to do because we were still buzzing off the
tour and we knew the basic outlines of the songs already because we’d
been messing around with them at sound-checks. I really wanted to get
that feeling of energy and excitement of cutting it live onto the
record…“
Re-united with the production team responsible for the stripped back
sound of ‚Studio 150‘- Jan ‚Stan‘ Kybert and engineer Joeri Saal
Wisseloord ….–the results are startling. Working straight eight hour
days over a labour intensive fortnight at Oasis‘ Wheeler End Studio,
the band (as ever: Steve Cradock; guitar, Steve White; drums; Damon
Minchella; bass) conjured up a rare alchemy, alternating between a
kinetic fury unseen since Paul’s days with The Jam (epic first single
‚From The Floorboards Up‘) bucolic astro-folk (‚On A Misty Morning‘)
and heartbreaking late-night piano excursions (‚The Pebble And The
Boy‘) which nod to the Style Council’s deeply under-rated ‚Confessions
Of A Pop Group‘.
But that’s not all. You can dive into the pure punk power-pop of
‚Come On / Let’s Go‘; slow-dance to the majestic ballad ‚I Wanna Make
It Alright‘ or wallow in the guitar crescendo’s of Hendrix-esque
opener ‚Blink And You’ll Miss It‘, which itself splinters into the
powerhouse stomp of ‚Paper Smile‘, arguably the most ’scouse-rock‘
tune ever created outside Merseyside. ‚Bring Back the Funk (pts 1 &
2)‘ , meanwhile, sees the band all turn in career-best performances,
led by a songwriter who happily admits to being inspired by
everything from Debussy to Coltrane to Parliament to, yes, the Small
Faces.
„People think I listen to the Small Faces all day every day“ he smiles.
„But they’re wrong. That’s only between ten and midday…“
The result, for the first time, is a record which reflects all the
facets of Paul’s career whilst still sounding completely instinctive,
and, crucially, bang up to date.
„I didn’t really think about what the songs were sounding like, it’s
just the way they came out. There’s a lot of love in this record.
‚Floorboards‘ stemmed from something me and Steve (White) talk about;
that when you play live on a good night the music doesn’t come from
the band, but from the energy of the crowd. It’s that power you’re
always looking to tap into to…“
Pushing the limits has always been the musical credo for Paul Weller.
From his time with The Jam- still, for many the most inspirational
group of the last thirty years -through the pop genius of The Style
Council, to his ever-evolving solo career he has always remained true
to the modernist ideal of keeping one step ahead of the throng.
Now, with an entire new generation of bands inspired by his music,
mindset and-let’s face it-wardrobe, trust Paul to come up with what
the man himself considers to be his best work to date.
And that title?
„I was in Rome with my girlfriend and I went to see an exhibition of
sixties British artists. A print by Eduardo Paolozzi caught my eye
called ‚As Is When‘ (1965). I just liked the simplicity of it. I just
tweaked the title a bit. For me it’s an acknowledgement of living in
the moment, and enjoying what’s there in front of you…“
Which brings us back to where we came in. Fourteen brand new songs
from the greatest British songwriter of his generation. Crank it up
loud. Mr Weller we’ll see you in the speakers.
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"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFM