Paul Weller - Find El Dorado

Back in 2004, Paul Weller released his first covers album, Studio 150. Depending on the source, it was either the nadir of a turn-of-the-century rut that the former Jam man was working through (Both 2000’s Heliocentric and Illumination two years later were met with a muted response) or the creative spark required to set him on to a (brand) new start.

21 years later, much has changed. Still very much in the same purple patch, Weller isn’t hankering for new ideas but taking a side step after some serious crate-digging. Where ‘Studio 150’ included interpretations of several classics (‘Close To You’, ‘All Along The Watchtower’), on Find El Dorado, he’s harkening back to attempt to harness the vibe from a specific, largely-British era. As such, perhaps only ‘I Started A Joke’ (by the Bee Gees, here given a grandiose quality) is recognisable to Joe Public. 

https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/paul-weller-find-el-dorado/