Paul Weller — True Meanings [Deluxe Edition] (2018) |
Paul Weller — True Meanings [Deluxe Edition] (2018)
Born: May 25, 1958 in Woking, Surrey, England
Location: London, UK
Album release: September 14, 2018
Record Label: Warner Bros./Parlophone
Duration: 76:48
Tracks:
01 The Soul Searchers 5:01
02 Glide 2:18
03 Mayfly 4:00
04 Gravity 2:33
05 Old Castles 3:20
06 What Would He Say? 4:00
07 Aspects (feat: Hannah Peel) 4:33
08 Bowie 3:53
09 Wishing Well 4:36
10 Come Along 3:03
11 Books 4:35
12 Movin On 4:31
13 May Love Travel With You 3:01
14 White Horses 5:26
15 The Soul Searchers [Richard Hawley Remix] 5:08
16 Aspects [RaVen Remix] 6:30
17 Mayfly [The Reflex Revision] 4:40
18 Glide [Instrumental] 2:21
19 Old Castles [Instrumental] 3:19
Written by:
• Conor O’Brien / Paul Weller 1
• Anth Brown / Tom Doyle / Paul Weller 12
• Erland Cooper / Paul Weller 8, 9, 14
Credits:
• Jo Allen Strings
• Rod Argent Mellotron, Piano, Soloist
• Johnny Arthur Mixing
• Lizzie Ball Strings
• Natalia Bonner Strings
• Maxine Boxall Vocals (Bckgr)
• Steve Brookes Guitar
• Anth Brown Bass, Composer, Guitar (Acoustic)
• Raven Bush Engineer, Producer
• Barrie Cadogan Guitar
• Martin Carthy Guitar, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Erland Cooper Composer, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Jessica Cox Strings
• Steve Cradock Autoharp, Guitar (12 String + Acoustic)
• Andy Crofts Bass, Collage, Guitar (Ac. + Nashville), String Arrangements, Vocals (Bckgrd)
• Rosie Danvers Strings
• Guy Davie Mastering
• Paloma Deike Strings
• Tom Doyle Composer, Drums, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Wurlitzer
• Isabelle Dunn Cello, Strings
• Colin Elliot Guitar (Bass), Percussion, Remixing
• Noel Gallagher Harmonium, Organ (Hammond)
• Daniella Ganeva Vibraphone
• Ben Gordelier Drums
• Richard Hawley Drums, Remixing, Stylophone
• Tom Heel Fender Rhodes, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Alex Hutchinson Design
• Jon Trier Keyboards
• Becky Jones Strings
• Jan “Stan” Kybert Glockenspiel, Mixing, Percussion
• Nicolas Laugier Producer, Remixing
• Gavin Lurssen Mastering
• Sheema Murkajee Sitar, Tamboura, Vocals
• Nicole Nodland Collage, Photography
• Conor O’Brien Bass, Composer, Drums, Fender Rhodes, Mini Moog, Producer, Vocals
• Stella Page Strings
• Antonia Pagulatos Strings
• Hannah Peel String Arrangements
• Steve Pilgrim Guitar, Guitar (Ac.), Vocals, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Hayley Pomfrett Strings
• RaVen Remixing
• Charles Rees Electric Organ, Engineer, Programming, Synthesizer Bass
• Lucy Rose Vocals
• Kotono Sato Soloist, Strings
• Kamalbir Singh Violin
• Amy Stanford Strings
• Ellie Stanford Strings
• Laura Stanford String Arrangements, Strings
• Chris Storr Flugelhorn, Trumpet
• The Stuart Kennedy Orchestra Arranger
• Danny Thompson Double Bass
• Phil Veacock Horn Arrangements, Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
• Hannah Weller Collage
• Paul Weller Bells, Collage, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Ac.+El.), Hammond B3, Harmonium, Mellotron, Melodica, Piano, Producer, Pump Organ, Vibraphone, Vocals, Vocals (Bckgr), Wurlitzer
• White Label Horn Arrangements, Producer, String Arrangements
• Alistair White Trombone
• The Wired Strings Strings
Editorial Reviews
★↔★ True Meanings is an album characterised by grandiose~yet~delicate, lush orchestration: an aesthetic to which Weller’s better~than~ever voice, singing some of his most nakedly honest words, is perfectly suited. A dreamy, peaceful, pastoral set of songs to get lost in, it is both an album that his faithful audience has been wanting him to make for a long time, and an album that many new people outside of that audience will relate to.
★↔★ True Meanings was recorded in just over three weeks at Weller’s own Black Barn Studio with the aforementioned revolving cast of characters dropping in for a day here and there. The orchestration was added soon after and that was that. It is always a good sign when the recording of an album is swift, and here you can just hear that the man at the center of these songs is more focused and inspired than he has ever been.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine; Score: ****
★↔★ Consider True Meanings Paul Weller’s comedown from a combustive, creative decade begun with 22 Dreams. That 2008 double album was co~produced with Simon Dine, who proved to be such a vital collaborator for Weller that the singer~songwriter found it difficult to shake off the producer’s influence after the two parted ways acrimoniously in 2012. Weller’s initial reaction to the split was to follow the straight and narrow on 2017’s appealing A Kind Revolution but True Meanings, delivered just a year later, finds him mellowing and entering a reflective groove. No amplifiers are cranked on True Meanings: the entire enterprise is anchored on folky finger~picking and strumming, which is in turn dressed in elegant orchestrations. Often, the lush strings and gentle horns are reminiscent of the orchestrations Robert Kirby arranged for Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, yet True Meanings doesn’t carry a melancholy undercurrent. Weller is in a sober mood but he’s not brooding, he’s reflecting. Thoughts of mortality drift across his mind — such as in “Bowie,” a tribute that’s more elliptical than its title suggests — but Weller seems settled and comfortable, more mindful than sad. The stateliness of the orchestral arrangements prevents True Meanings from slipping into a hazy folk netherworld. All the strings and brass not only accentuate the songs, highlighting the jazzy changes of “Soul Searchers” or the light swing of “Gravity,” they help frame this measured song cycle, directing attention to how Weller isn’t wallowing, he’s meditating upon love, loss, and hope as he enters his sixties.
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Paul Weller — True Meanings [Deluxe Edition] (2018) |
Paul Weller — True Meanings [Deluxe Edition] (2018)
Born: May 25, 1958 in Woking, Surrey, England
Location: London, UK
Album release: September 14, 2018
Record Label: Warner Bros./Parlophone
Duration: 76:48
Tracks:
01 The Soul Searchers 5:01
02 Glide 2:18
03 Mayfly 4:00
04 Gravity 2:33
05 Old Castles 3:20
06 What Would He Say? 4:00
07 Aspects (feat: Hannah Peel) 4:33
08 Bowie 3:53
09 Wishing Well 4:36
10 Come Along 3:03
11 Books 4:35
12 Movin On 4:31
13 May Love Travel With You 3:01
14 White Horses 5:26
15 The Soul Searchers [Richard Hawley Remix] 5:08
16 Aspects [RaVen Remix] 6:30
17 Mayfly [The Reflex Revision] 4:40
18 Glide [Instrumental] 2:21
19 Old Castles [Instrumental] 3:19
Written by:
• Conor O’Brien / Paul Weller 1
• Anth Brown / Tom Doyle / Paul Weller 12
• Erland Cooper / Paul Weller 8, 9, 14
Credits:
• Jo Allen Strings
• Rod Argent Mellotron, Piano, Soloist
• Johnny Arthur Mixing
• Lizzie Ball Strings
• Natalia Bonner Strings
• Maxine Boxall Vocals (Bckgr)
• Steve Brookes Guitar
• Anth Brown Bass, Composer, Guitar (Acoustic)
• Raven Bush Engineer, Producer
• Barrie Cadogan Guitar
• Martin Carthy Guitar, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Erland Cooper Composer, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Jessica Cox Strings
• Steve Cradock Autoharp, Guitar (12 String + Acoustic)
• Andy Crofts Bass, Collage, Guitar (Ac. + Nashville), String Arrangements, Vocals (Bckgrd)
• Rosie Danvers Strings
• Guy Davie Mastering
• Paloma Deike Strings
• Tom Doyle Composer, Drums, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Wurlitzer
• Isabelle Dunn Cello, Strings
• Colin Elliot Guitar (Bass), Percussion, Remixing
• Noel Gallagher Harmonium, Organ (Hammond)
• Daniella Ganeva Vibraphone
• Ben Gordelier Drums
• Richard Hawley Drums, Remixing, Stylophone
• Tom Heel Fender Rhodes, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Alex Hutchinson Design
• Jon Trier Keyboards
• Becky Jones Strings
• Jan “Stan” Kybert Glockenspiel, Mixing, Percussion
• Nicolas Laugier Producer, Remixing
• Gavin Lurssen Mastering
• Sheema Murkajee Sitar, Tamboura, Vocals
• Nicole Nodland Collage, Photography
• Conor O’Brien Bass, Composer, Drums, Fender Rhodes, Mini Moog, Producer, Vocals
• Stella Page Strings
• Antonia Pagulatos Strings
• Hannah Peel String Arrangements
• Steve Pilgrim Guitar, Guitar (Ac.), Vocals, Vocals (Bckgr)
• Hayley Pomfrett Strings
• RaVen Remixing
• Charles Rees Electric Organ, Engineer, Programming, Synthesizer Bass
• Lucy Rose Vocals
• Kotono Sato Soloist, Strings
• Kamalbir Singh Violin
• Amy Stanford Strings
• Ellie Stanford Strings
• Laura Stanford String Arrangements, Strings
• Chris Storr Flugelhorn, Trumpet
• The Stuart Kennedy Orchestra Arranger
• Danny Thompson Double Bass
• Phil Veacock Horn Arrangements, Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
• Hannah Weller Collage
• Paul Weller Bells, Collage, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Ac.+El.), Hammond B3, Harmonium, Mellotron, Melodica, Piano, Producer, Pump Organ, Vibraphone, Vocals, Vocals (Bckgr), Wurlitzer
• White Label Horn Arrangements, Producer, String Arrangements
• Alistair White Trombone
• The Wired Strings Strings
Editorial Reviews
★↔★ True Meanings is an album characterised by grandiose~yet~delicate, lush orchestration: an aesthetic to which Weller’s better~than~ever voice, singing some of his most nakedly honest words, is perfectly suited. A dreamy, peaceful, pastoral set of songs to get lost in, it is both an album that his faithful audience has been wanting him to make for a long time, and an album that many new people outside of that audience will relate to.
★↔★ True Meanings was recorded in just over three weeks at Weller’s own Black Barn Studio with the aforementioned revolving cast of characters dropping in for a day here and there. The orchestration was added soon after and that was that. It is always a good sign when the recording of an album is swift, and here you can just hear that the man at the center of these songs is more focused and inspired than he has ever been.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine; Score: ****
★↔★ Consider True Meanings Paul Weller’s comedown from a combustive, creative decade begun with 22 Dreams. That 2008 double album was co~produced with Simon Dine, who proved to be such a vital collaborator for Weller that the singer~songwriter found it difficult to shake off the producer’s influence after the two parted ways acrimoniously in 2012. Weller’s initial reaction to the split was to follow the straight and narrow on 2017’s appealing A Kind Revolution but True Meanings, delivered just a year later, finds him mellowing and entering a reflective groove. No amplifiers are cranked on True Meanings: the entire enterprise is anchored on folky finger~picking and strumming, which is in turn dressed in elegant orchestrations. Often, the lush strings and gentle horns are reminiscent of the orchestrations Robert Kirby arranged for Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, yet True Meanings doesn’t carry a melancholy undercurrent. Weller is in a sober mood but he’s not brooding, he’s reflecting. Thoughts of mortality drift across his mind — such as in “Bowie,” a tribute that’s more elliptical than its title suggests — but Weller seems settled and comfortable, more mindful than sad. The stateliness of the orchestral arrangements prevents True Meanings from slipping into a hazy folk netherworld. All the strings and brass not only accentuate the songs, highlighting the jazzy changes of “Soul Searchers” or the light swing of “Gravity,” they help frame this measured song cycle, directing attention to how Weller isn’t wallowing, he’s meditating upon love, loss, and hope as he enters his sixties.
_____________________________________________________________