Review: A reflective step sideways from the ever-restless Paul Weller, this new release finds the modfather reinterpreting the music that shaped him with measured reverence. Not just a covers project, but a kind of internal cartography-charting influences that feel intimate and formative. The standout 'Lawdy Rolla' is loose and lived-in, a bluesy drawl that lands somewhere between campfire spiritual and basement jam. On the flip, 'Pinball' is rendered with fragile grace, stripped of Pete Townshend's original angst and reimagined as something more quietly resigned. With guests including Noel Gallagher, Robert Plant and Seckou Keita, it's a record driven less by ego than memory. Produced with warmth by Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock, it's an understated, deeply felt offering from an artist still unafraid to look inward.
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