Paul Weller
22 Dreams

The Mod style, or to use the full name, modernism, is a lifestyle based on fashion and music that developed in London in the late Fifties and reached its peak at the end of the following decade, but it is also widespread and active today. The term originated to define fans of modern jazz. People who follow this lifestyle are known as mods, and the first proponents lived mainly in the south of England (source Wikipedia).

Paul Weller, at the helm of The Jam in the late seventies, became a key figure in the so-called mod revival, earning the still-valid nickname of the godfather of mod. With the arrival of the eighties, Weller disbanded The Jam and embarked on the Style Council adventure with Mick Talbot, releasing a handful of albums of ethereal soft-jazz veined with a soulful essence, and leaving with "Café Blue" a testament capable of withstanding the test of time.

To see an album under his name, one had to wait until 1992, the year of his self-titled debut. It doesn't seem like so much time has passed since then, but by the count, this "22 Dreams" turns out to be his ninth self-authored album. Over all these years, the ex-Jam member has never overly distorted his inclination towards a kind of white soul with increasingly diverse influences from funk to jazz, to pop, transitioning through a gutsy and energetic rock.

Having reached the threshold of fifty, he must have looked in the mirror reflecting an image that, despite the age, finds its counterpart in these twenty-two dreams filtered through twenty-one songs loaded with a healthy and excessive ambition. There's so much going on, one can get lost in it.

From the vigorous and vigorous rock of the title track and "Push It Along" to the psychedelia of "A Dream Reprise" complete with reverse tapes, from the classic ballad "All I Wanna Do (Is To Be With You)" to the spoken-word of "God", from the white soul of "Have You Made Up Your Mind" to the very intimate piano of "Empty Ring" and Bacharachian in "Lulluby Fur Kinder", from a smooth jazz in the instrumental "Song For Alice" to the poignant melancholy in "Where Ye Go". There's also a transition from the dance hall in "One Bright Star" and the Cotton Club in "Black River".

The merit of this work lies precisely in the versatility and grandiosity of the project, but if we flip the coin, we could say this is also where its limitation lies. Faced with such a sonic storm, to balance all the ingredients one needs to be a great chef, otherwise, with the aim of pleasing everyone, one ends up pleasing no one. Ultimately, the result is adorable although sometimes elusive and ambiguous. The impression that the roller coaster, at times, encounters upward sloping sections is palpable, but honestly, in almost 70 minutes of music, it couldn't have been otherwise.

Luxe collaborations are not lacking, from Noel Gallagher to Steve Cradock of Ocean Color Scene, from former Blur member Graham Coxon to the old guru Robert Wyatt.

There are few middle-aged artists today capable of generating albums of such stature by taking on the burden (much) and the honor (little) of reshuffling the deck of their past. Paul Weller shows that he doesn't feel the weight of the years and, in defiance of the multitude of cheeky bands that succeed one another with varying fortunes, proudly displays his half-century of life, rekindling the title of modfather with healthy and authentic brilliance.