Paul Weller Goes With the Flow for New Album

With his tenth solo album, 'Wake Up The Nation', ready to drop, Paul Weller -- the recipient of the NME's Godlike Genius Award on Wednesday night (Feb. 24) -- shows absolutely no signs taking his foot off the pedal.

Weller's recent recording career has included 2005's 'As Is Now' and arguably his best solo album, 2008's '22 Dreams.'

Yet Weller himself is loathe to pin down or think about what prompts his creativity. Speaking to Spinner, the Modfather said: "I'm just happy to run with it, you know?

"When the time is good and you get creative you just grab hold of it and run with it. I don't analyse it, I don't know why it's like that. But my mind has opened up to a lot of other possibilities. But I don't get too deep or analytical about it because I'm just happy that it's happened."

With guest slots from artists as diverse as My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and ELO's Bev Bevan, Weller's musical tastes are more eclectic than ever and he's not backward about being forward with potential collaborators.

"Some of it is just me meeting people but it's mainly me thinking, 'That person would be really good for that track' and then me calling then up and asking them," he explained.

"And luckily they said 'Yes!' I mean, there are so many different people that I'd like to work with but it's just a simple case of getting on the phone and getting hold of them."

So take it from Paul Weller: if you don't ask, you don't get.