Weller became well known during his work in bands like punk group The Jam and blue-eyed soul project The Style Council. He then started his solo career with his self-titled album in 1992. He has several tours coming up starting this November, and even has an exhibition about The Jam that is now scheduled for summer 2022. Having spent decades thriving in the music industry in several different outlets, Weller continues to churn out new ways to express himself.

The 62-year-old songwriter worked on many of the songs from the album during the first lockdown. In fact, he has several tracks on this album that came about during his work on ‘On Sunset’ that he didn’t use. He had his regular musicians practice it independently (Steve Cradock on guitar, Andy Crofts on bass, and drummer Ben Gordelier) and when they could finally get into the studio to record together, they were able to have the album finished in no time.

Just as quickly as the album was finished is how quickly one moves between each song. They are upbeat and typically brief, very intentionally. “Yeah, they’re all short, like three minutes, and they’re all immediate,” he says. “It was a conscious decision to make it like that.” These 12 tracks range from relationships to fatherhood to racial politics. Even with the broad range of topics, there is an air of positivity surrounding them all. Weller and his fans attribute this in part to his commitment to being sober for 11 years now. He explains: “Since I’ve been sober…I get more from music. Not just my music, but all music. It means more to me, and it’s more direct to my heart and my soul. And certainly playing it.”

You can listen to the full album below.

FAT POP

The new album from Paul Weller.

“Pop, in old money… you know what I mean?”

Out May 14th & available to pre-order on multiple formats – including deluxe vinyl and deluxe CD, LTD picture disc, merch bundles & more… https://t.co/5NzOn7bWJS pic.twitter.com/Sbto2WgLfl

— Paul Weller (@paulwellerHQ) February 25, 2021

Weller has been teasing the twelve-track release for the last few days across his social media accounts. Noel Gallagher already revealed on Matt Morgan’s podcast that The Jam frontman was planning to bring out a new album, saying: “I know he’s recorded another album since lockdown started, he had one that came out in lockdown and about two weeks later he’d finished another one. He’s a got a great studio.”

‘The Modfather’ is scheduled to tour the UK in November and December 2021, after postponing his gigs due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The tour had been due to take place in March 2021. However, three new dates have been added to the tour – in Bath, Lincoln and Sheffield.

Weller’s last album, On Sunset, came out in July 2020. It reached number 1 in the UK Albums Charts, and it received a positive critical reception, with The Guardian writing: “There is warmth and succour here, undercut with a playful scattering of mischievous sounds; orchestral soul with eloquent quirks; nuances that hark back to Weller’s second band, the Style Council.”

The singer rose to fame as frontman of punk band The Jam. He then went on to form band the Style Council before achieving success as a solo artist. He has won four Brit Awards, the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award, and the NME Godlike Genius Award in 2010.