Paul Weller EP review on Soundblab.com January 2013

Paul Weller

Dragonfly     

Island Records

Released: Monday 17 December 2012

 

In the days when vinyl ruled the turntables, the phrase 'limited edition' was associated with coloured plastic and/or picture sleeves - and very popular they were with vinyl junkies and record companies alike. So the 7in vinyl version of Dragonfly, Paul Weller's new EP, which has hit the shops with a limited batch of just 3,000 numbered copies, will certainly have got the pulses racing among record collectors. With a sleeve designed by Sir Peter Blake, the man responsible for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Weller's 1995 album, Stanley Road, it's already a highly sought-after piece of plastic, though a downloadable version is still available for anyone unimaginative enough to merely want to listen to the music!

The title track will be familiar to anyone who has heard Weller's most recent album, Sonik Kicks, and a fine track it is too, with lots of swirling sounds from Blur's Graham Coxon. 'Devotion' also appeared on the deluxe version of said album, while the rest of the tracks were all recorded during the Sonik Kicks sessions.

The four new tracks are well worth hearing, with 'We Got a Lot' this writer's pick of a very impressive crop, though Weller once again manages to get the listener racking their brain over which tune is lurking there under the surface. This is not a criticism but, unlike 'It's Too Bad' off All Mod Cons, released by The Jam (Weller's first band, for the benefit of younger readers) in 1978, where an early Beatles riff is unmistakeable, I can't quite place this influence.

'Lay Down Your Weary Burden' and 'Portal to the Past' are more than mere fillers, while 'The Piper' sees Weller tipping his hat to his Motown-listening roots, yet adding a contemporary vibe to a track which ends this extremely satisfying EP on a strong note.