PAUL WELLER AND GRAHAM COXON - "This Old Town/Each New Morning/Black River".
How to approach a release from such luminaries; after all, it's illegal to criticise the Modfather? I shouldn't have worried. Given that Paul Weller has been in the business since the heady agit punk days of The Jam in the Seventies, through the Style Council and never ending success story of his solo career it was hardly likely he would participate in the release of a turkey. Graham Coxon may not be as high profile as he was in the heady days of Blur but his driving riffs propel this moody joint collaboration, "This Old Town", ably aided and abetted by some fine drumming from Zak Starkey. Coxon claimed, "As a long time admirer of Paul I never dared imagine getting a chance to work with him so I was bricking it when we first met but he is an absolute gent and a shockingly great musician and singer". Embarrassing gushing over, Weller returned the compliment when he said, "I've always been a big fan of Grahams and love his work so it was exciting for me to work on something new with him". Weller mightn't be the angry young man he was back then but this song crashes and rampages the way The Jam once did, albeit with a modern bent, and, just as, "This old town won't let you go", neither will the insistent nature of this song, remaining burnt into your mind for some considerable time afterwards. Unfortunately only the title track was available for review; "Each New Morning" is a Graham Coxon composition and "Black River" was written by Paul Weller. If they are as good as the title track then I want more.
Available as a download on July 2nd and as an AA sided limited edition, (5, 000copies) single on July 30th.
Colin Dunn.
Available as a download on July 2nd and as an AA sided limited edition, (5, 000copies) single on July 30th.
Colin Dunn.
