Paul Weller
66

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing new. Nothing new here, just nostalgia. So much, so much nostalgia.

I wanted to start this writing by borrowing the title from the first single released from Paul Weller's latest effort, to make it clear from the outset that the work neither adds nor takes away anything from the magnificent career of the "modfather".

Paul's seventeenth solo album - his twenty-eighth album in total, including his work with The Jam and The Style Council - titled "66" and released the day before his 66th birthday (May 25), is a summary of the rock, white soul, R&B, britpop, jazzy flavors, and even psychedelia atmospheres, infused in the previous 26 albums. All in 12 tracks for a total of 42 minutes of ballads and orchestral arrangements as if it were raining, flute solos scattered here and there, and a lot of craft.

There is the feeling that Weller clings to something seductive and does it with self-indulgence, aware that 66 springs, of which 47 have been spent with an honorable presence on the music scene, are enough to take a look back.

Things are clear from the start: aboard this ship of fools ("Ship Of Fools"), besides the flute and the vibraphone, there are those atmospheres so dear to Ray Davies and that made the fortune of the Kinks.

Be careful though, nostalgia yes but understood as a perception of a past that gives meaning to the present, a joy that is tinged with sadness, but still joy. And so, the disco percussion and gurgling synthesizers of "Flying Fish" bring the anxieties of passing time into the logic of things. Also because Paul doesn't feel old. And how could he, who spent the early years of his career screaming about the importance of youth. Hence, remembering the Jam, in "Jumble Queen" the voice becomes aggressive and the horns of the Stone Foundation do the rest. The lyrics - even if by Noel Gallagher - reflect the spirit of the whole work (Like a bullet/Now I'm flying free/I see the future looking at me/And as you cry for what has been/I will sing this song to the Jumble Queen).

Thanks to the versatility of his career, the songs flow easily, some better, others less, but the level remains high. Take "Nothing" - with vocals ranging from Bowie to Scott Walker and with that crooner flavor now even deeper in the voice wonderfully corrupted by time - it reminded me of Hirayama, the protagonist of Wenders' "Perfect Days", also for the lyrics (Walking back through the silver trees/The light summer evening breeze on my face) and, I like to think that the nice Japanese could add it to his music collection.

But for me, the real wave of nostalgia comes with the fifth and sixth tracks, the ones that most recall the period with Mick Talbot. Falling in love between 15 and 17 is easy: all it takes is two beautiful breasts attached to a girl who, it seems, is listening to you. In this case, they belonged to S., and at the end of summer, we ate paella along the banks of the Brenta. She brings the radio, I bring the cassette bought in Padua: "Our Favourite Shop", I rely on flutes, strings, and romantic little guitars. As usual, two of spades: S. has a prettier head than breasts and pulls out the booklet with the lyrics and we start talking about social issues, Thatcher and..., damn it!

Nostalgia, I think everyone can return to the past in their mind by listening to one or another track, the palette is so broad, but the colors always render melancholic scenes. Even "I Woke Up", although one of the least successful (along with "A Glimpse Of You" and "Sleepy Hollow"), has its point: my mind goes to those French '60s films in black and white in a moment of more dreamlike than lived nostalgia.

Nostalgia, listening to "In Full Flight", it feels like being at the Atlantic in ... 66! Clearly, it's my favorite because it's the essential chocolate for every good nostalgic: it starts as a classic soul with even gospel hints but then, slowly melting in your mouth, reveals the psychsoul tip in a liquid guitar solo: sublime!

With a notable shift "Soul Wandering", the track with the most current sounds, only serves to mark the concept that our protagonist has traversed the entire Brit pop era and knows how to master the style always with credibility.

But we couldn't close it like this, and so with "Burn Out" we return to the end of the '60s, when psychedelic music decided to throw its arms around the song form giving birth to delightful cameos of which the present, to be clear, is only a copy. But a beautiful copy.

Tracklist

A1 Ship Of Fools

A2 Flying Fish

A3 Jumble Queen

A4 Nothing

A5 My Best Friend's Coat

A6 Rise Up Singing

B1 I Woke Up

B2 A Glimpse Of You

B3 Sleepy Hollow

B4 In Full Flight

B5 Soul Wandering

B6 Burn Out