Comment: Paul Weller 66 Published on: 6 June 2024 Writing for The Conversation, Dr Adam Behr reviews a skilful, layered album that pays homage to rock music. , Paul Weller鈥檚 new album 66 is a far cry from the fiery vigour of Weller鈥檚 early work with The Jam and The Style Council. It鈥檚 also different from solo hits like (1995) or even, more recently, the on 2021鈥檚 Fat Pop. But by taking his foot off the gas somewhat, Weller seems keen to take in the view and a comparative lack of feistiness doesn鈥檛 mean a lack of purpose. Indeed, this being his 17th solo studio album 鈥� following six with The Jam and five with The Style Council 鈥� Weller鈥檚 work ethic, at least, shows no signs of flagging. Nor his capacity to roam around pop鈥檚 past and present in search of inspiration. 66 is named partly for his age at release and partly, , for 1966 鈥� the year that produced much of the music that fired him up in the first place. The mid-1960s have long been a musical touchstone for Weller. When writing (1982), The Jam were listening to The Beatles鈥� Revolver album and the . Weller is known for channelling the energy and bile of The Who鈥檚 opening chapter and the soul-inspired mod movement 鈥� it wasn鈥檛 for nothing that Weller acquired 鈥淭he Modfather鈥� as a nickname. There are certainly nods to that era here, not least in the album cover by pop artist Sir Peter Blake, whose work graced releases by The Who and, most famously The Beatles鈥� . But while the soul music inflections that colour much of his work are still present, 66 generally finds Weller in a more ruminative mood. Insofar as he draws from the 1960s and 70s aurally, it鈥檚 the more melodic and narrative, rather than rebellious and declarative, strands of those eras鈥� musical history. The lilting, shifting chord patterns of A Glimpse of You call to mind. While the fingerpicked acoustic guitar of Sleepy Hollow carries shades of tragic troubadour . As engaging as all this is, the glimpses of a harder edge are a welcome change of pace. The Rolling Stones-esque horns (from their Exile on Main Street-era ) on , with lyrics by Noel Gallagher, and the more riff-driven single , a collaboration with Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie, add a touch of bite. Still, these are outliers. It鈥檚 possible to imagine them as staples of a live show, but the more interesting elements here are in some of the more oblique moments 鈥� the loping waltz of and the drifting album-closer , for instance. With its long guitar slides, this latter song carries strong echoes of Pink Floyd in their exploratory phase, before the gargantuan success of Dark Side of the Moon locked their sound into a template. There鈥檚 even a nod to Floyd鈥檚 (1971) part way through, deliberately or otherwise. Weller has always worn his influences on his sleeve. What helps him avoid being merely derivative is both the amount of influences and his facility for synthesising potentially disparate sources. And so it is here. With meandering flutes, autumnal strings, choppy, disco guitar chords and stuttering synths swirled together, the production is busy, but not cluttered. The risk of this approach is that it lacks distinctiveness, and can drift towards excess. Weller mostly, though, avoids seeming as if he鈥檚 thrown everything at the wall to see what sticks. Rock is an ageing art form, and his willingness to pull its various threads together yields texture, rather than untidiness. The album rarely pushes the boundaries of the genre, but the collaborative approach foregrounds Weller鈥檚 skill as an arranger and interpreter. While he leans on the past, as he reaches a pensionable age, he doesn鈥檛 appear willing to be a hostage to it. Despite his track record, he shies away from the 鈥渉eritage鈥� label and leaning into nostalgia by retreading his hits 鈥� . There have been no reunion tours or albums for The Jam or Style Council, and he has eschewed the arena shows that artists of his vintage could doubtless carry. This seems to have paid off 鈥� he鈥檚 had a . Whether 66 will repeat the trick is hard to say. It鈥檚 perhaps unlikely to garner him any new fans, yet it bears repeated listening and will reward those who have stuck with him so far. , Senior Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 expert highlights climate crisis in a new film A leading 缅北禁地 climate scientist is featured in a new film about how the climate and nature breakdown will affect the UK. published on: 14 April 2026 Neolithic tombs reveal ancient kinship ties Male individuals buried in Neolithic chambered tombs in northern Scotland were often related to each other through the paternal line and some were interred in the same or nearby tombs, research shows. published on: 14 April 2026 We are our Memories New exhibition by Fine Art graduate Trish Hudson-Moses, 22 April 鈥� 4 May 2026 published on: 10 April 2026 Facts and figures
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