Paul Weller is one of those long-serving giants of British rock music, he seems to be an ever-present face in the UK album charts but their seems to be a bit of extra buzz in the air for his latest record. Saturn Patterns is his 12th solo album and it has gotten everyone talking about The Modfather again, even bagging him an invite to perform a secret gig at this year's Great Escape Festival in Brighton, a festival dominated by new and rising stars – Weller is right back where he wants to be with his finger on the pulse of contemporary music. When I took my first steps at assembling an album collection I really got into his first band The Jam, who found success riding the coattails of the punk scene, before firmly establishing themselves as a Beatles-era obsessed beat-combo. I retrospectively bought all of the albums the three-piece produced in the few short years together: those six solid studio albums in five years really established Weller as both an eclectic and prolific song-writer. I never really took to his next band, The Style Council were more soul-oriented but never produced, to my mind, anything as spirited as the Northern Soul inspired 'Town Called Malice' or even The Jam's famous soul covers of Curtis Mayfield's 'Move On Up' and Martha and The Vandellas 'Heat Wave'.

When Weller retired The Style Council at the end of the 80s he found himself without a recording contract for the first time since he was 17 – but he didn't rest on his laurels for long, soon embarking on a solo career that would see his stock rise again, particularly around a couple of well received records during the mid 90s hey-dey of British guitar pop. Wild Wood, his second solo outing, was best remembered for it's title track, but the follow-up, 1995's Stanley Road, took him back to the top of the charts with memorable hits like 'Changingman' and 'You Do Something To Me'. Stanley Road closely allied Weller to the Britpop movement, featuring the guitar playing of Noel Gallagher from Oasis and Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Craddock (who has continued to work on Weller records to this day). It was Weller's association with Britpop that earned him the Modfather nickname, and, although he continued to produce albums regularly over the following decade, it felt like he'd reached his creative zenith and wasn't going to progress any further.

After collecting a clutch of awards in the mid 00s from various entities that all wanted to celebrate his 'lifetime' of achievement, an accolade that can't sit too well with any artist who feels he has more to say, it seems like Paul decided to make a deliberate effort to pull those nails back out of his coffin. Never scared of a reboot Weller ditched his band (all apart from Steve Craddock) and started again, returning in 2008 with the critically acclaimed double album 22 Dreams, an effort that put him back on a path of innovation that has led him steadily towards this hotly anticipated 12th record. Saturns Patterns kicks off with 'White Sky', building up atmospheric layers of synthesised noise – distant chiming and rumbling sounds compete for space before a heavily distorted guitar breaks in with a bluesy riff. The sound is very modern, everything has had heavy electronic processing and Weller's voice is almost unrecognisable behind a veil of the sort of distortion Jack White would probably go for. Underneath all those effects, which are even more prevalent here than on the rest of the album thanks to a mix from Amorphous Androgynous (the remixing wing of Future Sound of London), there's a mid-tempo, soul-rock groover of a track which isn't a million miles from what you might expect from Weller. He has tapped into the contemporary resurgence of psychedelia, which has been aided by all that modern technology can bring to the equation, and it certainly makes for a solid opening impression here.

Next the title track comes in with an insistent electric piano groove that sounds too tight to have been played by a human being. Weller's voice is more recognisable but it still sounds quite different to what I'm used to hearing from him. This track has a heavy 70s influence but again there's tonnes of studio trickery going on to enhance the effect. The arrangement is a little confusing on the first listen, lots of hooky moments but no clear delineation between verse and chorus. The false ending is a little strange too – the song fades out toward the end then comes back in before leaving again, without adding much except for a bit of experimentation with spacious delays. Still repeated listens are quite rewarding with this track, which gives more of itself away the better you get to know it.

'Going My Way' veers between mellow soulful piano ballad and a more driving section with an insistent staccato piano driving things forward. It reminds me a little of 'She's Leaving Home' from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, or even weirdly some of the music from Jesus Christ Superstar! 'Long Time' comes in next with a big bluesy distorted guitar – sounding a bit like the Stooges or even a heavier version of something Lou Reed might have written when he was working with Bowie in Berlin. Ironically it doesn't take a long time to do what it's going to do and, almost as if Weller got bored of the idea before finishing the arrangement, the song fades out after two minutes.

Next 'Pick It Up' has the sort of beat Bill Withers would have gone for. It even sprinkles a couple of bars of that funky clavinet sound from 'Use Me' in to the mix, as if to acknowledge the influence. Clearly enjoying the groove on this one they have allowed the song to spread out over six minutes, letting it roll along while playing around with dropping in and out different instrumentation – there's an odd bit when an acoustic guitar comes in with a flurry of notes in what sounds like it's going to be a very overblown solo, but it's just as quickly snatched away. Weirdly for a track about Weller feeling content with who he is and what he does, the vocal on 'I'm Where I Should Be' sounds nothing like Paul, or at least not on any songs I am familiar with. I feel the chorus of this track has the slightest hint of one of my favourite Jam songs 'Ghosts', but it also has guitar moments that sound like they've been lifted from a Stereophonics album – here at times the bleeping, fluttering electronics are a little overbearing.

'Phoenix' seems to be about Weller's rebirth as a lover, as he sings about 'the birds and the bees' and 'rising from the ashes'. It begins with some pleasant ambience and some far-off gospel vocals. It has a laid back, pumping groove adorned with little piano flourishes and feels not a million miles away from something on Love's Forever Changes album. Bongos, hints of Moog synth sounds and Fender Rhodes all add to the 70s vibe which is seldom absent on the whole album – all that's missing here is a really obvious whacka-chacka wah-wah guitar. 'In The Car' starts of with a really old blues riff on acoustic guitar, but steps up a gear when the drums kick in for a glam stop. Those distorted vocals from 'White Sky' are back, the song has a lot of contrast between its sections and seems to have sacrificed some clarity in favour of more whacky production ideas. The lyric is about living and dying in the car, whether in the front or back, driving round the M25… it's all a bit bizarre but those bluesy moments chug along nicely and the song fades on a great sounding slide guitar solo.

'These City Streets' ends the album and it's a bit of a behemoth at 8 minutes long. It begins, as the album starts, with a lot of ambient noise, this time it's a street scene, with sirens and chatter interrupted by synths and the track kicks in again. It's an even more laid back, soulful tune, relaxed and contemplative with some great gospel vocals on the chorus. It definitely feels like the 70s again, a fusion of funk, folk and soul that comes together nicely around a bowed string of some sort in the first solo section. Unfortunately it doesn't really go anywhere fast once it's gotten through three verses and choruses it sort of floats along with synths, delay effects, guitar parts, strings and vocal ideas competing for space. After 7 minutes Weller changes things up for a final coda section, repeating the refrain of 'we still got a way to go' – as if to tell us this is not going to be his last offering and I hope not! Although at times all the experimentation with sound collage seems overdone this is certainly an album that captures a lot of the feel and grooves that Paul Weller has been obsessed with since he started his career in music – before I was born! There are no obvious massive singles, but there's plenty to enjoy and it feels like the sort of album the will grow on you with repeated listens.
Adam Kidd