There are records that come along and surprise you sometimes, songs that show a change of direction, new influences, time spent with other musicians a willingness to experiment with new ideas and new sounds. And then there are the new 12" single from Paul Weller.
There are three new songs, all out now digitally with a 12" to follow in September, all titled Mother Ethiopia, recorded with soul band The Stone Foundation. This one is part 3, subtitled No Tribe No Colour and done with London based Ethiopian three-piece Krar Collective, with the vocals sung in Amharic by singer Genet Assefa. This is super loose and super funky Afrobeat and it's likely to cause a certain amount of shuffling of feet and shaking of arses. The more conservative elements of Weller's audience may be slightly perplexed by this and rush off home to put on Going Underground again- but make no mistake, this is really, really good.
you are right it doesn't sound like Paul Weller, all the better for it. hope the other parts are as good. i wonder what his input was? perhaps he wrote the amharic verse, ha.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned over at JC's place, I reckon Weller's been on a creative roll ever since '22 Dreams'. Long may it continue.
ReplyDeleteTop tune you've posted here Adam.
ReplyDeleteHe's definitely a huge musicophile and he seems to have gotten the middle-aged nonsense out off his system a while back and just seems to be enjoying himself with no eye on what's popular now. I'm surprised by the record but not really at the same time. More of the same/not the same again, please!
ReplyDeleteWhether he had much input or not, glad Weller's name is on it because I probably wouldn't have given it a chance, and that would have been my loss for sure. This is very good.
ReplyDeleteIts an opinion splitter. I like it. I may even splash out for the 12".
ReplyDeleteAgree with Swede that of recent, Weller has seemed to open himself to more influence and successfully dabbled. Have to say, Starlite, which came out in 2011, has been my favorite song Weller has released in 20 years.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful slice of East African Folk/Pop. Weller's involvement just gives more hope for the future of his recordings.
This made me think of Starlite- not in its sound but in its timing (end of summer, after an album) and in its departure from his more established sounds.
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