Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation

Old friends and new grooves in perfect sync

Bigging up his new record in the press at the start of the year, Weller suggested Wake Up The Nation would be a more back-tobasics and spontaneous affair than 2008’s 22 Dreams. Yet, despite reuniting with Bruce Foxton (albeit for just two tracks), don’t expect Weller to scurry back to the short, sharp shock adrenaline rush of The Jam days.

If anything, Nation is even more ambitious than its breathtaking, genre-hopping predecessor. The title track boasts familiarly anthemic spiky guitars, as do a few other equally sparse inclusions, but there’s a dizzying array of influences elsewhere, from the Isaac Hayes funk strut of Aim High to the fairground waltz instrumental In Amsterdam, the Dr John bounce of Trees to The Walker Brothers bombast of No Tears To Cry.

Kevin Shields turns up brandishing his usual effects pedals for 7 & 3 Is The Striker’s Name (a trippy dance track about crosswords and football, no less), and there’s also a guest spot from ELO drummer Bev Bevan, but the vision, the drive and the personality is all Weller’s. He may have turned 50 last year, but there’s a strong sense that he’s in the middle of the hottest run of his career.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Island | 2732861

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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