Once feted for his forthright opinions, Paul Weller’s happy to let his music do the talking as he celebrates his own swinging 60s.
Some still refuse to forgive him for breaking up his first band The Jam at the height of the punk-meets-mod trio’s fame in 1982, a move that led to the Surrey-raised songsmith’s decades-long estrangement from his former cohorts Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler.
Others, meanwhile, accepted Weller’s need to move on and embraced his white soul and synth balladry dabblings during six years fronting The Style Council.
It was in 1990 that the already legendary songsmith – still aged just 32 – embarked on a solo career that has yielded 16 studio albums to date, with the latest, 66, landing earlier this year.
It’s Weller’s seventh LP since 2015 and the former boy wonder – tongue firmly in his cheek – puts his prodigious work rate of recent years all down to being “a late developer”.
And if we needed further proof that he’s on a roll, he’s just released a new EP, Supplement: 66, comprising four tracks that didn’t make it onto the album.
“I’m pretty prolific at the moment,” Weller declares ahead of his upcoming gig at Dundee’s Caird Hall.
“It’s not always like that – when I was much younger, it was a struggle to write. I remember back in The Jam days being stuck in the office and being told to write because we needed two songs to finish an album.
“Now I’m always storing up ideas for whenever the moment might come. And I find I have more ideas the older I’ve got.”
Why Weller still ‘loves the B-side’
Having something new, or at least previously unheard, out there to promote while doing what he does best – playing live – is exactly how Weller has rock ‘n’ rolled since the school-formed Jam released their debut single and album, both called In The City, in 1977.
“I still think in those terms – a single and an album, side one and side two – I can only think along those lines,” he says.
“I love the B-side. Even going back to The Jam, you could experiment, there was less pressure. This wasn’t a single and it wasn’t going on an album, so you could do something different.
“Often out of that came something really special. Making an album back in the day always felt like hard work. But now if something doesn’t work I won’t fret and will either give up or try a different way.
“I love the whole process of recording – it’s magical,” he continues.
“The fact that you can start at the top of the day with a few notes and by the evening have an entire recorded song, a living bit of music.
“I still find that incredible.”
Is ‘Modfather’ mellowing out about lyrics?
Despite a long-standing reputation for being something of a prickly character used to enjoying both the first and last words, Weller insists that the way he works nowadays is more democratic.
“Before, I was very territorial over my songwriting and especially my lyrics,” he admits.
“It was a closed shop, but I think it’s about loosening up the older you get. I feel I’ve proved my worth as a lyricist over the years, so I’m happy to bring in somebody else.
“I love sending people a backing track and asking if they have any ideas. They often send them back immediately. It was a similar story with [Mercury nominated singer-songwriter] Kathryn Williams.
“I had a melody for the tune and la la la’d that as a reference over the backing track. Then she sang the lyrics over that. I recorded my vocal later on.
“It all becomes obvious when you are in the middle of writing. You know what you need to do to make it work.”
Paul Weller plays the Caird Hall on Sunday October 27 2024.
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