A Sense of Doubt blog post #3842 - "Brand New Start" - Paul Weller - Music Monday for 2508.25
I have been subtle on my blog for the last few months, hinting at a work situation that has caused me a great deal of pain.
"Brand New Start" originally appeared on the greatest hits collection Modern Classics in 1998 rather than one of the albums.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Classics:_The_Greatest_Hits
I have two versions of "Brand New Start" in this post and some extra content, plus a bonus video ("Gravity").
Thanks for tuning in!
"Brand New Start" by Paul Weller - LYRICS
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/09/paul-weller-the-jam-style-council
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| Paul Weller - Edinburgh - 2015 |
Paul Weller: 'I'm not a nostalgic person. I like now. I like today'
As the Modfather returns to the US, he’s determined to look forward rather than backwards, and don’t ask him about the Jam or Style Council reforming
Paul Weller thinks he has written three perfect songs over the course of his career. The lamentful Wings of Speed off his celebrated 1995 album Stanley Road; the ode to London, Strange Town, which he wrote with the Jam in 1979, and Going My Way, on his new album, Saturn’s Patterns. Tomorrow Weller will begin his tour of the US in support of that album, bringing his “perfect” song on the road to remind the eastern half of the country that he is still here, and still very, very relevant.
Weller has described the LP, his 12th studio album, as “defiantly 21st century”, and it lives up to that description. Saturn’s Patterns finds the so-called Modfather jettisoning himself into continued relevancy with a healthy dose of bluesy guitar, space-age synthesizers and slick production. Weller, who honed his craft in the Jam and Style Council before breaking out on his own in the 90s, admits that the album is pushing his own boundaries, as well as those of his listeners. “I don’t think that there’s anything else out that that sounds like this, for me personally,” said Weller. “I am just trying to push myself forward and see where else I can go with music after all these years.”
For Weller that means branching out into the unlikely world of pop music. “What I do essentially is pop music, I’m trying to work within that framework and make it as interesting as possible, but still be true to myself,” said Weller.
When most modern listeners hear the phrase “pop music”, they think of One Direction or Taylor Swift. Not Weller, though. “When I think of pop music, I think of people like the Kinks. People making very popular music, but are still pushing the boundaries,” he explained. “I don’t know how to describe it, really. Their tunes are very popular, but have an experimental side to them as well.”
Weller spent a great deal of time on this album, scrapping songs he had written over the last three years, starting from scratch and then massaging the arrangements to his liking. “There are a few bonkers bits on it,” laughed Weller, but all that matters for him is that: “At the end of the day there are good tunes on it. There are good songs.”
While some people consider Weller to be anchored to the past by his well-loved work from the 80s and 90s, as Weller continues to push boundaries, try new technology, and create new, fresh sounds, he makes it clear that, at 57 years old, he has no desire to slow down. “I’m sure time and age will do that for me,” laughed Weller. But until then he has his sites aimed squarely on the future.
“I’m not a nostalgic person,” said Weller, dismissing any idea of the Jam or Style Council getting the band back together and hitting the road like their cohorts the Who. “Not enough money in the world to do that,” said Weller. “I like now. I like today. I don’t want to spend my time trying to recapture something that can’t be recaptured.”
Instead of dwelling on the past, Weller is much more interested in the future and the music that he is making now and will make soon. “I love this new record and I loved the last one and I’m looking forward to making the next one,” said Weller.
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| Foxton and Weller - JAM years |
But before he can head back into his studio, he is touring the US. While Weller is wildly popular in the UK, the US market has always proved elusive for him. At this point in his career, he’s accepted that, though, and has no designs on cracking the charts on this tour. “I’m too old to do that,” he laughed. “If it was going to happen, it would have happened a long time ago.” Weller admits that he was never inclined to devote the time and energy to making it in America. “You’ve got to spend months or years on a road trip and I was never willing to do that,” said Weller. “Even when I was 18, 19 and first came to America, I loved the people, but I was not interested in spending six months on the road in a bus going around America. It’s just not really me. I like my home. But if you’re going to make it that’s what you need to do.”
Still, he wouldn’t mind having his record top the Billboard charts in the US.
“Obviously, if my record went to No 1 in America, that would be great, but it’s not going to happen,” said Weller. “It’s nice to have your music appreciated everywhere, innit?”
While chart-topping success in the US has yet to happen for Weller, that’s not to say his music is unappreciated in the States – far from it. It’s a fact that seems to surprise him. “Last year we played in a place called Cincinnati, which is a place I’ve never been and I wasn’t expecting anything really, and there were over 800 people in this club, which was fucking amazing,” said Weller.
For Weller, touring, with all its ups and downs and relentless hours in the bus, is just part of a life spent in pursuit of a passion. “I like making records, but I like playing live as well,” said Weller, pausing a moment before adding almost wistfully: “I just love playing music. It’s my life I’ve been doing it since I was 14.”
https://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10528/paul-weller-s-guide-to-songwriting-true-meanings-interview-2018
Paul Weller’s Guide to Songwriting
The British songwriting great talks to Another Man following the release of his new album True Meanings
2. Be honest
“I wouldn’t know how to write a hit these days, but then I’ve never known that. I’ve only ever written what I felt at the time, and if it’s been successful, that’s great. But equally, other things I’ve really liked haven’t been successful. It’s my life’s work, so I have to satisfy myself first and foremost – there’d be no point doing it otherwise. Obviously, once I’ve done that, I want to play it to other people and get other people into it. But I think first and foremost, I try to satisfy something inside myself, really. If other people get it and they share in it? That’s fantastic.”
3. Keep moving forward
“I’ve made tentative steps on the next record. Normally, by the time an album comes out, because it takes such a long time for it to come out, I’m already onto the next thing. We’ve had [True Meanings] finished since December, January time. So we’ve got four or five new songs for a potential next record. It’s important [moving forward], but it isn’t something that I can really plan for. You just have to sort of follow where the songs are taking you – if I get an idea, I’m just following that tune. That always seems like an ongoing thing.”
“Working with other people, that’s a way to expand your own world” – Paul Weller
4. Be open to collaboration
“There’s not infinite ways of working, but I try to explore as much as possible. Working with other people, that’s a way to expand your own world. [The collaborations on True Meanings] were all with people I really admired, and respected, and thought I could work well with. Lucy Rose, Conor O’Brien from Villagers, Erland Cooper – whoever it may have been, they’re all people that I’m fans of. But it wasn’t as difficult as what it may seem – I’d send them ideas over the phone, and we’d to-and-fro them back and forth, via text. I’m at that age and stage where I feel like I’ve proved my worth as a writer, so now it’s as good a time as any to work with other people. It was nice, on this record, to have the lyrics to three or four of the songs written by other people. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to interpret other people’s words.”
5. Push the boat out
“I did a film soundtrack last year, for a film called Jawbone. It was more textural, mood music – avant garde might be a bit much, but it was very textured music, largely instrumental. I like the whole spontaneous composition thing I did on that soundtrack. I’d like to do more of that. If it was the right kind of film, anyway – I wouldn’t be any good at a Hollywood blockbuster.”
Paul Weller’s new album True Meanings is out now via Parlophone
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- Days ago: MOM = 3707 days ago & DAD = 361 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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