Long since having achieved elder statesman status in the UK, Paul Weller is still capable of surprises. Not so much a change of direction as a more focused distillation of some of his long-held influences, Saturns Pattern finds him in re-energised mode, willing to experiment sonically and with numerous strong songs to boot. Beginning with a swirling mélange of studio textures, including what sounds like backwards tape, ‘White Sky’ is a frantic, fiery rocker, all pounding drums, phasey guitars and bullet-mic vocals. It’s the sort of thing that would’ve been called “heavy rock” in the early 1970s, and about as far away from the sub-three-minute mod-soul-punk of The Jam as he has strayed.
The title track veers towards late period Beatles (White Album) with a prog-rock veneer, while a more pastoral sheen with McCartney-esque piano underpins ‘Going My Way’. Clocking in at just over two minutes, the chugging ‘Long Time’ probably started life as a riff – which is pretty much where it ended up too, though the acid-tinged guitars sound like Stephen Stills’ work on CSNY’s heavier outings. Meanwhile, ‘Pick It Up’ finds Weller revisiting that Steve Winwood/Traffic blue-eyed soul sound he perfected on Wildwood, with the keyboard riff recalling Bill Withers’ light funk classic, ‘Use Me’.
Elsewhere, the fuzz-tone guitars contrast with the melodic sunshine on ‘I’m Where I Should Be’, while the nostalgic, romantic ‘Phoenix’ suggests he’s been listening to the Fifth Dimension of late. The final track, the gorgeously atmospheric ‘These City Streets’, finds the singer channelling his inner Marvin Gaye over a groove that wouldn’t sound out of place on What’s Going On. Excellent.