Paul Weller's meaning of life

A few - no, make it several - albums ago, journalists were writing about the purple patch Paul Weller was going through, as if the venerable mod god was spewing out material due the affliction of some terrible, terminal disorder, and that he had things to say before his Bass Weejun clogs were popped. Thankfully, nothing of the sort was going on, but that hasn't stopped the extraordinary production line that has delivered 14 studio albums over the last 26 years.

And they keep coming, with today's release of True Meanings. After the delicious, summery soul of last year's A Kind Revolution, Weller turns reflectively autumnal with perhaps his most intimate album to date.

It's impossible, too, not to cite the Modfather turning 60 in May as the trigger, if not the root, of this mellower, bucolic collection of acoustic guitar-dominated songs. This is nothing new: go back Wild Wood or even earlier to The Jam's sublime English Rose and you'll find plenty of proof that Weller hasn't always been about angry stomps. The Cranes Are Back on his last outing is probably the loveliest song he's ever committed to tape. It's just that Weller himself has drifted from style-to-style with each passing album, either deliberately (or accidentally) determining each one according to the mood he's in. Comparisons with the equally prolific Neil Young aren't unwarranted.

Here, on True Meanings, his choice of collaborators plays a part: The Zombies' Rod Argent playing Hammond organ on the deeply thoughtful The Soul Searchers and the single Movin' On, and Noel Gallagher can be found elsewhere on the album; John Martyn's partner in crime Danny Thompson on Come Along (as well as Thompson's Pentangle bandmate Martin Carthy), another reflective number recalling a long-forgotten one-night stand. On three songs Weller calls in the lyric-writing skills of Scottish folkie Erland Cooper, while on The Soul Searchers Conor O'Brien of Dublin's Villagers lends a pen to the reflection. Tracks like Glide, Mayfly and Old Castles present wistful glances in the rear-view mirror, while Bowie - written in tribute to the late star - acts as a medium to ponder on change. All this builds to the wonderful closing track, White Horses, a song deep in thought and not without a nod to Nick Drake in the process.

After the long hot summer we've had in the UK, the gentler, seasonal tone of True Meanings provides blessed relief. It may not be the most adventurous album in Weller's canon, but that doesn't matter. There is still more going on with these 14 tracks than in most, if not anyone else, in Weller's peer group. Others of his New Wave era may labour over new material or, simply, not bother at all, but the music seems to come out effortlessly from Weller, with soul, with heart, with top-of-its-game instrumentation and arrangements. At this rate, we should be expecting the next one any time soon.