True Meanings [Deluxe Edition]

by Paul Weller

Overview

Consider True Meanings Paul Weller's comedown from a combustive, creative decade begun with 22 Dreams. That 2008 double album was co-produced with Simon Dine, who proved to be such a vital collaborator for Weller that the singer/songwriter found it difficult to shake off the producer's influence after the two parted ways acrimoniously in 2012. Weller's initial reaction to the split was to follow the straight and narrow on 2017's appealing A Kind Revolution but True Meanings, delivered just a year later, finds him mellowing and entering a reflective groove. No amplifiers are cranked on True Meanings: the entire enterprise is anchored on folky finger-picking and strumming, which is in turn dressed in elegant orchestrations. Often, the lush strings and gentle horns are reminiscent of the orchestrations Robert Kirby arranged for Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, yet True Meanings doesn't carry a melancholy undercurrent. Weller is in a sober mood but he's not brooding, he's reflecting. Thoughts of mortality drift across his mind -- such as in "Bowie," a tribute that's more elliptical than its title suggests -- but Weller seems settled and comfortable, more mindful than sad. The stateliness of the orchestral arrangements prevents True Meanings from slipping into a hazy folk netherworld. All the strings and brass not only accentuate the songs, highlighting the jazzy changes of "Soul Searchers" or the light swing of "Gravity," they help frame this measured song cycle, directing attention to how Weller isn't wallowing, he's meditating upon love, loss, and hope as he enters his sixties. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/14/2018
Label:	Parlophone
UPC:	0190295615161

Tracks

1. The Soul Searchers
2. Glide
3. Mayfly
4. Gravity
5. Old Castles
6. What Would He Say?
7. Aspects
8. Bowie
9. Wishing Well
10. Come Along
11. Books
12. Movin On
13. May Love Travel With You
14. White Horses
15. The Soul Searchers [Richard Hawley Remix]
16. Aspects [RaVen Remix]
17. Mayfly [The Reflex Revision]
18. Glide [Instrumental]
19. Old Castles [Instrumental]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Paul Weller   Primary Artist,Bells,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Autoharp,Melodica,Harmonium,Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Pump Organ,Vibraphone,Organ (Hammond),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Hannah Peel   Primary Artist,Strings
Tom Doyle   Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Drums,Strings,Organ (Hammond)
Jessica Cox   Cello,Strings
Colin Elliot   Bass,Percussion,Guitar (Bass)
Jo Allen   Strings
Natalia Bonner   Strings
Charles Rees   Organ,Synthesizer Bass
White Label   Strings
Stella Page   Strings
Rod Argent   Piano,Soloist,Mellotron,Organ (Hammond)
Richard Hawley   Drums,Stylophone,Synthesizer
Martin Carthy   Guitar,Vocals (Background)
Noel Gallagher   Harmonium,Organ (Hammond)
Barrie Cadogan   Guitar
Steve Pilgrim   Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Amy Stanford   Viola,Strings
Antonia Pagulatos   Strings
Jon Trier   Keyboards
Steve Cradock   Guitar,Autoharp,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (12 String)
Rebecca Jones   Strings
Isabelle Dunn   Cello,Strings
Lizzie Ball   Strings
Chris Storr   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Anth Brown   Bass,Guitar (Acoustic)
Danny Thompson   Bass,Double Bass
Daniella Ganeva   Vibraphone
The Wired Strings   Strings
Phil Veacock   Sax (Tenor),Sax (Baritone)
Ellie Stanford   Strings
Stuart Kennedy   Orchestra
Andy Crofts   Bass,Strings,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Guitar (Nashville),Vocals (Background)
Rosie Danvers   Strings
Jan "Stan" Kybert   Percussion,Glockenspiel
Conor OBrien   Bass,Drums,Piano,Vocals,Mini Moog,Fender Rhodes
Laura Stanford   Violin,Strings
Hayley Pomfrett   Strings
Erland Cooper   Vocals (Background)
Alistair White   Trombone
Lucy Rose   Vocals
Kotono Sato   Violin,Soloist,Strings
Paloma Deike   Violin,Strings
Kamalbir Singh   Violin
Steve Brookes   Guitar
Ben Gordelier   Drums
Tom Van Heel   Piano,Fender Rhodes,Vocals (Background)
Maxine Boxall   Vocals (Background)
Sheema Murkajee   Sitar,Vocals,Tambura,Tamboura
The Stuart Kennedy Orchestra   Orchestra

Technical Credits

Tom Doyle   Arranger,Composer
Paul Weller   Collage,Composer,Producer
Raven Bush   Engineer,Producer,Remix Engineer
Colin Elliot   Engineer,Remixing
Gavin Lurssen   Mastering
Charles Rees   Engineer,Recording,Programming
White Label   Arranger,Producer,Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements
Richard Hawley   Remixing,Remix Engineer
Anth Brown   Arranger,Composer,Horn Arrangements
Nicole Nodland   Collage,Photography
Phil Veacock   Arranger,Horn Arrangements
Stuart Kennedy   Arranger
Guy Davie   Mastering
Andy Crofts   Collage,Arranger,String Arrangements
Jan "Stan" Kybert   Mixing
Johnny Arthur   Mixing
Conor OBrien   Composer,Producer
Hannah Peel   Arranger,String Arrangements
Alex Hutchinson   Design
Laura Stanford   String Arrangements
Erland Cooper   Composer,Producer
Hannah Weller   Collage
The Reflex   Remix Engineer
Nicolas Laugier   Producer,Remixing
The Stuart Kennedy Orchestra   Arranger
RaVen   Remixing