If <person>Paul Weller</person>’s 50s were defined by a welcome musical restlessness – 2008’s 22 Dreams began a run of shapeshifting records that overflowed with vitality and fresh ideas – the now 60-year-old sometime <person>Modfather</person>’s 26th album is a surprise in a different way. A set of gentle pastoral songs, it finds him finally immersing himself in the singer-songwriterly fare that he’s intermittently dipped into since 1978’s English Rose. With backing from his regular band, plus guest spots from <person>Martin Carthy</person> and <person>Rod Argent</person> among others, <person>Weller</person> sounds at ease with this more introspective material, the lush orchestration acting as a perfect foil to his voice.
The aptly named Glide is sublime, with echoes of <person>Cat Stevens</person> in its lullaby-like simplicity. Gravity is equally lovely, <person>Weller</person> crooning “In my heart you’ll always be/ The greatest love that I could feel” against a backdrop of strings. He saves the best until last: White Horses, one of three co-writes with <person>Erland Cooper</person> of <person>Erland</person> and the <person>Carnival</person> (including, oddly, <person>Bowie</person>, on which <person>Weller</person> sings <person>Cooper</person>’s lyrics, making it seem like a tribute at one remove), gradually builds to a stirring climax with real emotional heft.