At 62, a point when most long-established musicians are content to throw out the odd album as an excuse to do the greatest hits tour again, Paul Weller can’t stop creating. On Sunset is his fourth album since 2015, not including his soundtrack to the 2017 boxing film Jawbone and an EP of musique concrète sound experiments earlier this year. It’s not The Jam’s productivity level, but not far off.
This one falls somewhere between the brief oddity of that EP and the homespun, predominantly acoustic True Meanings album of 2018. Opening number Mirror Ball begins as a twinkly piano ballad before veering off into a vintage, soulful groove, then a wobbly central bit where it seems to forget to be a song entirely, and finally a series of G-funk synth squeals. On More, another epic, he’s joined by Julie Gros singing in French, both flute and sax solos and a dramatic string section.
If that sounds a bit wild for the average dadrock fan, the title track is centred on a summery acoustic strum reminiscent of George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord, and Equanimity is a jaunty novelty that sounds as if it could have been sung around the piano during the war.
Overall, On Sunset’s closest current relative is probably the rich folk-soul of Michael Kiwanuka, which is a highly appealing place to sit. Fans that can keep up with the pace will find one more collection to file with Weller’s best work.
