Album Review: Paul Weller – Find El Dorado
4 min read
I don’t know how he does it!? Paul Weller, aka ‘The Modfather’, has been a defining figure in British music for decades—first with The Jam, then The Style Council, and finally as a solo artist. Known for constantly evolving his sound (from punk to soul, jazz through to folk), he’s always rooted in sharp song writing and realism – and with his starring role in Blitz, he’s now branching into acting! Returning to Parlophone Records – the label behind his acclaimed mid‑2010s era – for his eighteenth solo studio album, Weller delivers a new covers album, Find El Dorado – A musical route through tracks that shaped Weller, featuring collaborations with the likes of Robert Plant and Noel Gallagher (amongst many other icons), each of the fifteen reinterpretations aimed to offer listeners an intimate glimpse into the musical DNA of a true British musical legend. Let’s dive right in and have a listen….
Kicking off with Handouts in the Rain, a Richie Havens masterpiece, and Weller (with vocal assistance from Declan O’Rourke) does a good job, putting his distinct tones, both vocally and instrumentally, whilst Declan’s vocal tones mesh superbly with Wellers (though I do prefer the original). Bobby Charles’ Small Town Talk next, which again has the distinct Weller touch to it (with 70’s keyboards replaced by acoustic guitar riffing), while El Dorado (originally by Eamon Friel) is given a Weller glow up, with the assistance of Noel Gallagher on guitar and Seckou Keita on feadóg stáin, the original being a very simple minimalist vocal/acoustic guitar combination, whilst Weller et al. is a more polished, busy track. The best band name in the world, The Flying Burrito Brothers, have their track White Line Fever covered next, with Weller’s cover being a somewhat instrumentally and vocally true-to-original cover, of which cannot be said for One Last Cold Kiss which is an octave lower and less moody, particularly in the instrumental arrangement, than the OG.
An orchestral edge is given to The White Plains’ When you are a King, while Brian Protheroe’s Pinball is very similar to Weller’s rendition, though the shift in the original in musical intensity isn’t really there in Weller’s take. Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire follows suit, an almost true to original cover of Willie Griffin’s track, and this would very much be the descriptive for both the Bee Gee’s I Started a Joke (though slightly paired down) and Lal and Mike Waterson’s Never the Same – though in a lower key and a better polished track – and this can also be said for The Guerrillas track Lawdy Rolla, and Nobody’s Fool, originally by the Kinks. The same feeling follows through to both Journey by Duncan Browne and final track Clive’s Song, which is a darker version of the Hamish Imlach original, which features the vocals and harmonica of the legendary Robert Plant. Sandwiched between those two is, for me, the best track on the album – Daltry Street – a cover of P.P. Arnold’s epic chronical, where the gender shift in singing a slight up tempo move makes this feel somewhat unique (yet familiar), and I have the sense that Weller really resonated with the lyrics on this one, it definitely felt that way.
Find El Dorado is a well-produced album of cover songs close to Paul Weller’s heart, sung by the master musician. Unfortunately, for me, this is also the album’s biggest problem – I’m not going to pretend I knew all the tracks going into today – honestly I knew three tracks and I’d heard of an additional three bands/artists outside of those tracks – This album is simply a modernised reproduction if the track, as sung by the man himself. Honestly, now I’ve heard all the originals, I cannot think of one Weller rendition that I prefer over the original. Rather than finding songs where Weller’s take would be a re-imagining of the track (think “Hurt” by Johnny Cash, or “Heartbeats” by Jose Gonzales, to name a couple off the very top of my head), we effectively get 15 Weller-sung versions of the same tracks as they were back in the day but with a better, ‘fuller’ production – great if you’re a diehard Paul Weller fanatic, but for most people I would use this track list to look up the originals. Sorry, Mr. Weller, this wasn’t my Jam.
