Paul Weller on his latest album, ’66’ : World Cafe Words and Music Podcast

Paul Weller

Nicole Nodland/Courtesy of the artist

hide caption

toggle caption

Nicole Nodland/Courtesy of the artist

Paul Weller

Nicole Nodland/Courtesy of the artist

Paul Weller has made music long enough to know he needn’t obsess over the source of his creativity.

“I think I’m meant to write songs,” he tells World Cafe over a video call. “I don’t particularly question it. I just follow it. I just keeping doing it, and I follow the muse.

Following that muse has led the English mod rocker, who rose to prominence with The Jam in the ’70s, to his 17th studio album, 66. In this digital exclusive for World Cafe, Weller talks about working with Noel Gallagher and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and embracing the mystery of creative inspiration.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.