Paul Weller Adopts a Change of Approach for New Album

With a recording career now entering its fifth decade and a Brit Award for Lifetime Achievement and an NME Goldlike Genius gong under his belt, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Paul Weller would be pretty set in his ways. However, as displayed by the working methods for his tenth solo album, 'Wake Up the Nation', Weller is more than happy to explore new methods of creativity.

Following the epic delivery of his last full-length release, '22 Dreams,' Weller is set to deliver a more compact release and his producer, Simon Dines, proved to be a catalyst in getting him back into the studio.

Despite having no plans to record anything new, Weller found himself inspired after Dines sent through some musical sketches which the singer describes as "sound collages, little mood pieces".

Speaking to the Observer, Weller revealed how he and his band took the ideas and built on them in the studio.

"Then they'd go, 'All right, time for a vocal.' I'd be bricking it because I hadn't even got a melody or words, but I'd think, 'Right, just open your mouth and see what happens.' I hadn't really done that before," he admitted.

Weller concedes that his audience may have to bed themselves in with the album before it reveals its charms.

"It's challenging," he said,"but there's nothing wrong with challenging your audience. It shows respect, rather than putting out the same s--- every year."

'Wake Up the Nation' is released on April 19.