"He's interested in upsetting expectations and venturing into unexplored territory," Ed Power noted when reviewing Wake Up The Nation. "If only his old Britpop drinking partners were so interested in veering off the beaten track."
I think he meant you, Liam and Noel!
While Weller does indeed go off in myriad new directions on the record, there's also the wonderful familiarity of hearing him reunited for the first time in 28 years with Bruce Foxton on the suitably Jam-ish 'Fast Car/Slow Traffic'.
"You can tell straight away that it's Bruce on bass," Paul noted recently when Hot Press caught up with him in London. "What opened up the dialogue between us was that my dad and his wife, Pat, both became ill at around the same time (in 2008). I phoned Bruce to see how she was getting on and, well, I think we both realised that life's too short to be bearing grudges. He was the one who said, 'If you're ever in need of a bass-player, give me a call', so when it came to doing 'Fast Car/Slow Traffic' I thought, 'We've got to get Foxton on this 'cause he'll sound great!'"
The only time Paul's good mood slipped that day was when we mentioned then opposition leader – and now UK Prime Minister – David Cameron's professed love of The Jam.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again – which part of 'Eton Rifles' doesn't he understand?" he snapped. "They can re-brand all they want, but there's fuck all difference between the Tories now and the way they were under Thatcher."
Weller's displeasure at Cameron being given the keys to Number 10 will have been tempered by his getting engaged recently to 28-year-old girlfriend Hannah Andrews, and dispensing fatherly advice to his five kids.
"They mean the world to me, and already it looks like they're going to follow me into the family trade," he beamed. "My eldest son is shopping around for a deal at the moment, and my daughter's made two fantastic demos that I'm on at her to send off.
"Whatever they do, I'm happy as long as they're happy, but I can't think of a finer profession than being involved in music or something else creative. I just want them to have an amazing a life as I've had."