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UncutMay 10, 2021Something that scratches the same itch that first propelled him and his audience into a record shop. ... To keep that hunger alive, you need to feed it with new inspiration. What you hear on Fat Pop is the reciprocation of that care. [Jun 2021, p.16]
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May 20, 2021Fat Pop is full of highlights.
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May 14, 2021Weller may often be adventurous, particularly during the third act inaugurated with 2008's 22 Dreams, yet he rarely seems as loose and playful as he does here, and that sense of mischief is an unexpected and welcome gift.
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MojoMay 10, 2021The 12-tracker doesn't feel as "big" as 2020's funky On Sunset, nor as even as the woody True Meanings, but the array of styles means no one will walk away untouched. [Jun 2021, p.88]
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May 10, 2021Lean, precise and purposeful, its 12 tracks whistle by in little more than 35 minutes; its production, in keeping with the limitations of lockdown, is deliberately pared down. There are other flutters of experimentation – the title track is an unfastened groove that struts like Ian Dury on a mystical funk trip – but it’s the simple melodic strength that binds the songs together.
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May 10, 2021It’s to Weller’s credit that these more plaintive and introspective tracks sit so smoothly aside ‘Fat Pop’’s more playful experiments. It means that for the second time in less than a year he’s released a record that can sit safely among the best of his long career.
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May 13, 2021It’s a diverse offering with Weller’s deep soulful voice splitting the difference between Bowie in his Thin White Duke phase on the funky, twisty title track (check out the tasty, offbeat clarinet), jazzy R&B on the flute enhanced “Testify” and the crunchy power pop not far from later period Jam of “True.”
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May 13, 2021Weller takes a moment for introspection, his implicit vulnerability rendering him a more sympathetic figure than his occasionally impersonal craftsmanship allows on Fat Pop (Volume 1).
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May 13, 2021Weller could easily be forgiven for just living off that immense back catalogue. Instead, he’s relishing that elder statesman role and striving forward. He may not be the angry young man of the past, but his fire is still burning bright.
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May 10, 2021A kind of blue eyed soul take on the Basement Tapes, ‘Fat Pop (Volume 1)’ stands as further testimony to Paul Weller’s disregard for the expectations laid upon him.
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May 17, 2021Weller seems incapable of releasing a downright bad album at the moment, but this isn’t one of his best.
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May 13, 2021They’re all interesting concepts and ideas that work, but together they create a disjointed and bizarre listen.