22 dreams Uncut review, (Thx Simon !)

It’s a commonly held belief that Paul Weller’s every waking hour is soundtracked by a steady stream of Small Faces EPs and old Traffic albums. The reality is rather more complicated. Ask Weller what music he’s been listening to in the years approaching his 50th birthday and he will recount a list of CD acquisitions that would shame the most eclectic buyer. You’ll hear him praising the pastoral English modernism of Vaughan Williams and William Walton, the lesser known works of Debussy and Ravel, the space-age jazz of Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, the oddball medieval funk of hobo composer Moondog, the Rastafarian trance music of Cedric “Im” Brooks or the drone-laden avant rock of the first Velvet Underground album. To be continued

Paul Weller speaks about 22 dreams.

You even dip into Latin American music on One Bright Star…

I’ve recently developed a bit of a thing about tango. I love that music. It’s really emotional, passionate music. And in soundchecks we often mess about with tango and bolero rhythms. Again, Simon had a backing track and I had a tune in my head and we started jamming on it. The melody is quite influenced by an Algerian singer called Souad Massi, who’s been a huge inspiration recently.

Soaud's interview, months ago

Q: Yesterday you were in the studio with Paul Weller. How is it to collaborate with him?

A: He is someone very spontaneous and I like that. He told me he discovered my albums and he said he adored one of my songs - "Ghir Enta" ("I only love you") - and he made a version of it, which is magnificent...It made me happy to meet a legend like him who is so nice, who has such a drive to make music. Yesterday, we worked until three in the morning. We were tired but he didn't want to leave the studio. He had an idea and he wanted to follow it to the end. Check Paul Weller news to read the following.