Of all the many things
Paul Weller has done in his career, he has somehow managed to survive three decades without a double album to his credit.
22 Dreams rectifies that wrong, offering a luxurious sprawl that's proudly, staunchly classicist, just like
Weller's solo career itself.
Weller's embrace of rock & roll tradition might suggest that he has taken his double album as an opportunity to offer a summation of his career, to summarize where he's been and perhaps where he's going. Tempting though this may be, especially given the record's elastic, elegant eclecticism, this isn't quite a self-conscious summation, nor is it quite a risk-taking tour de force in the vein of
The White Album, even though this encompasses everything from fragile folk to the resurrection of the sophisticated collegiate jazz of
the Style Council. Instead,
22 Dreams has a floating romantic quality that justifies the dreams of the title, drifting from sound to sound, sometimes taking elaborate detours, sometimes stopping for a brief picturesque sideshow. In some ways, it's the flip of the piledriving
As Is Now, where
Weller indulged in harder inclinations, as this finds
Weller exploring his softer side, often in ways he hasn't quite done before. There's still a crustiness to
Weller -- he'll get sensitive, but he won't get sappy -- but there's an openness to
22 Dreams, in how he eases into a
Curtis Mayfield homage as comfortably as he pays tribute to
Alice Coltrane with
Robert Wyatt in tow.
Wyatt isn't the only guest here, either, as
Weller expands his core band -- without leaving right-hand man guitarist
Steve Craddock -- with cameos by
Graham Coxon and
Noel Gallagher (only he could unite these Brit-pop foes), the latter collaborating on a thick, hazy psychedelic "Echoes Round the Sun." This is about as dense as
22 Dreams gets, as it has a lighter touch, so graceful that it can disguise the number of styles
Weller touches upon here, as he skips from electronica and pastoral jams lingering from
Wild Wood to jazz and soul. Initially, this doesn't sound radical -- it is recognizably of a piece with his solo work, fitting neatly alongside either
Stanley Road or
Illumination -- but more listens reveal just how finely textured and woven this tapestry is. And although it shares superficial sonic similarities with his other records,
22 Dreams is really unlike any of
Weller's other albums, as it's rich in sound and feeling, possessing a shimmering dreamy quality. It's an album to get lost in. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine