Reviewed: 10-10-2020
Reviewer: Tom McCarter
General: General
FCCs: none
If You Like: Flaming Lips, Bowie, Beatles, Ry Cooder
Review: This is a very ambitious album and no one sentence can encapsulate all the styles incorporated here. This is Weller's 15th solo album, after leading The Jam and Style Council, and he clearly hasn't run out of ideas.
Track Review (favorites denoted by *)
***1/ Mirror Ball (7:38) - psychedelic space drone melts into soaring melodic pop with shimmering spacey instrumentation> slow fade
*2/ Baptiste (3:56) - guitar starts> midtempo song with a gospel feel & soaring vocals with chorus> slow fade
3/ Old Father Tyme (3:56) - piano starts> midtempo song with a gospel feel & a pulsing funk groove> crescendo & fade
**4/ Village (3:19) - electric piano starts> midtempo song with psychedelic flourishes & soaring vocals> slow fade
*5/ More (6:54) - percussion starts> midtempo prog-soul song> strings interlude> midtemp0 song morphs into uptempo groove jam> slow fade
6/ On Sunset (5:39) - electronic wind & surf sounds start> pause> guitar leads into midtempo song with strings & psychedelic flourishes> slow fade
**7/ Equinimity (3:58) - piano/vocal start> midtempo song reminiscent of Beatles& Kinks> violin solo> midtempo song> quick fade
*8/ Walkin' (3:56)- piano starts> uptempo song morphs into psychedelic crescendo, the builds in volume & fades
**9/ Earth Beat - synth starts> midtempo Marvin Gaye-like psychedelic soul song with strings & synths> vocals soar & build> slow fade
*10/ Rockets (4:19) - synth/guitar starts, morphs into a slow spacey song with Weller channeling his inner Bowie> fade
***11/ 4th Dimension (5:35) - poppy synth starts> pulsing Eno-like electronics morph into jazzy instrumental with spacey vocal interplay> fade
12/ Ploughman (3:14) - guitar starts> uptempo Kinks-like song with soaring vocals morphs into psychedelic instrumental & crescendo end
*13/ I'll Think Of Something (4:06) - guitar starts> slow mellow song with an electronic undertow> slow fade
14/ On Sunset (Orchestral Mix) (4:42) - guitar starts> slow mellow song> orchestra breaks in> quick fade
15/ Babtiste (Instrumental) (3:05) - guitar starts> uptempo jam> strings kick in> music builds to a crescendo> slow fade