Late last year in a podcast interview Paul Weller stated he is not a “heritage act” and this has lost him some fans over the years who just want the hits. This statement is very true as he has an impressively varied discography but curiously ‘The Modfather’ often seems to be pigeon-holed by music fans at large, certainly those who presumably don’t listen to him, as someone who is just replicating past glories like so many of the Britpop acts that he influenced.

Those who have been paying attention, though, will know that over last 16 years Weller has been going through an incredible purple patch which has not only seen his last eight albums be met with popular and critical acclaim, but have seen him experiment with different genres such as Krautrock, psychedelic rock, Bowie-esque art rock, dub, electronic and more. Given this, his new album 66 (the age Weller will turn the day after its release) has much to live up to. But does it?

Well, it doesn’t get off to a great start as ‘Ship of Fools’ is a plinky-plonky ballad which while not unpleasant is rather forgettable. Things quickly turn around though as the next song ‘Flying Fish’ is an interesting electro-infused track that has a tremendous disco-stomp of a chorus.

After this, the album seems to light up with the next couple of songs; ‘Jumble Queen’ and ‘Nothing’ being similarly great. The former is a horn-driven blues-y banger while the latter is a melancholic, slinky soul effort.

Sadly, the remaining eight tracks do not keep up this pace, instead providing a mixture of highs and lows. That said, there are no awful missteps here. No, the worst you can say about the weaker numbers on the album is that they have a pervading indie blandness to them. This is heard in the likes of ‘My Best Friend’s Coat’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’ which are amongst the most meandering efforts.

That said, over the course of the record the good outweighs the bad. Amongst the other highlights, we have the sweeping ‘Rise Up Singing’ where Weller’s vocals are at their most soulful and the psychedelic ‘Soul Wandering’ where he is at his most rocking.

In the end, it is often difficult to judge things in a vacuum. 66 is a perfect example of this in that it is a good, sometimes very good, record, but the fact it doesn’t reach the exhilarating experimental heights of 22 Dreams or Sonik Kicks or the emotional highs of A Kind Revolution can feel disappointing. However, it also demonstrates that Weller is showing no sign of creatively slowing down and keeps up his apparent inability, in the last couple of decades, of releasing a bad album.