The past decade of Paul Wellerโ€™s career has been defined by his drive for change. From the varied beats of 2008โ€™s 22 Dreams, through the electronica of Sonik Kicks and on to last yearโ€™s easily overlooked experimental soundtrack to Jawbone, thereโ€™s been a restless desire for new sounds. While thatโ€™s been exciting to witness, itโ€™s also sometimes overshadowed the fact Weller is still an exceptional songwriter. There are times, perhaps, when less might have been more โ€“ so a song like the gospel-tinged โ€œThe Cranes Are Backโ€ on 2017โ€™s A Kind Revolution lacked some of the immediate beauty of the original demo, which featured little more than vocal and piano.

For True Meanings, Weller hasnโ€™t quite stripped things back that far, but he has produced his most sonically consistent album in years. Each song began as vocal and acoustic guitar, but a sense of dynamic was added by the use of strings or horn arrangements, giving the album a backwash of luscious and uncomplicated beauty. At times, these can be relatively subtle, as on opener โ€œThe Soul Searchersโ€, where the strings are just an added layer of texture and not as important as the Hammond solo played by Rod Argent โ€“ one of many guests on the album. Elsewhere, the strings are more prominent. The gorgeous โ€œGravityโ€ swings by like a 1920s waltz, while โ€œMay Love Travel With Youโ€ has the orchestral feel of a classic Tin Pan Alley weeper explicitly designed to get a post-war housewife sobbing into her onions.

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Although most songs take the shape of soul or occasionally country, there are other flavours. The most significant is the use of sitar and tampoura on โ€œBooksโ€, a splendid drone attacking religion that also has Noel Gallagher on harmonium. The other big innovation is that on four songs Weller writes tunes for other lyricists. Conor Oโ€™Brien from Villagers wrote the words to โ€œThe Soul Searchersโ€, while โ€œBowieโ€, โ€œWishing Wellโ€ and โ€œWhite Horsesโ€ are by Erland Cooper, who recently released an acclaimed solo album. Wellerโ€™s own solo albums have always been a medium for collaboration, and True Meanings has appearances from Martin Carthy, Danny Thompson, Rod Argent, Barrie Cadogan, Lucy Rose and, inevitably, Noel Gallagher.

The use of strings isnโ€™t simply a decorative conceit. They catch the albumโ€™s mood of wistfulness, a nostalgia that the strings sometimes shade as melancholic, sometimes joyful and sometimes joyfully melancholic. Weller turned 60 in May, and that milestone as given him reason to look back just as turning 50 inspired his creative renewal with 22 Dreams. On the delicate, Disney-like โ€œGlideโ€, he sings about gliding โ€œthrough a portal to be youthโ€ and how he will โ€œsee the memories unfoldโ€, while โ€œMay Love Travel With Youโ€ opens with him โ€œcombing through the yearsโ€. โ€œTake me back there again/Let me feel the same way,โ€ he pleads on โ€œMayflyโ€, a slice of gorgeous soul that harks back to Stanley Road.

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The theme of ageing finds a rich extended metaphor in the jazzy โ€œOld Castlesโ€, on which Weller pictures a Lear-like king in a crumbling castle, wracked with self-doubt. On the simple โ€œBowieโ€, Erland Cooper contemplates the mortality of the immortal, while Weller affects a mildly โ€จoff-putting imitation of the titular singer.

Not that Weller is past it, yet. The pastoral โ€œCome Alongโ€, which features Martin Carthy on guitar and Danny Thompson on bass and was cut live, has Weller as an assertive lothario: โ€œCome along and be my baby/Though weโ€™ve only met/I just wanna take you home and/Let nature do the rest.โ€ That song hints at slightly illicit sex, and itโ€™s not the only song to cover that territory. Best of these is โ€œWhat Would He Say?โ€, which has a country tone and a beautiful mournful flugel horn solo. On True Meanings, Weller has a lot of love to give, but itโ€™s not always clear who is getting it.

The final songs see him reassert his place in the world, seeking comfort in โ€จthe familiar. On the organ-rich, gospel-tinged โ€œMovinโ€™ Onโ€, heโ€™s adamant that โ€œIโ€™ve got love all around, I donโ€™t need nothing else,โ€ while the elegant โ€œWhite Horsesโ€ sees him take solace in the sanctuary of home. โ€œTime flies/And itโ€™s lonely alone,โ€ he sings, content about where the journey of life has taken him. โ€œWhite horses are taking me home.โ€

The November 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK โ€“ with David Bowie on the cover. The issue also comes with two exclusive Bowie art prints, including one previously unseen image. We also pay tribute to Aretha Franklin and elsewhere in the issue youโ€™ll find exclusive features on John Lennon, Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin, Cat Power, John Grant, Blondie, Connan Mockasin, Billy Gibbons, Family, Stereolab and many more. Our free 15-track CD has been exclusively curated by Sub Pop Records and includes tracks by J Mascis, the Afghan Whigs, Mudhoney, Luluc, Low, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.