Paul Weller didn’t expect people to like his "self-indulgent" double LP ’22 Dreams’.
The British rock icon has admitted he made the large collection of songs with the intention of making them to satisfy his own taste, and he never imagined it the track would hit it off with his fanbase.
Asked he expected to have a resurgence in popularity after the release of the 2008 album, he admitted: "Not at all.
"The catalyst for me was ’22 Dreams’, which was when I knew I was going to be 50.
"It was making ’22 Dreams’ and, more importantly, the reaction I got from that record because I was fully expecting for people to not like it.
"I’d thought, ‘How can I make the most self-indulgent record possible…’ and funnily enough people f***ing loved it.
"So from then it was like, ‘Well, I really don’t know what people will like or won’t like so it’s best to not think about it and just do what you’ve got to do.’
"But the fact that they did was really encouraging.
"The fact that I established that it’s not gonna be like [2005 single] ‘From The Floorboards Up’ all the time.
"That I’m not going to be trapped by my legacy or what people want or what people expect from me because it’s the death of creativity to get trapped inside that.
"You have to be prepared that you might lose some people sometimes and you might gain others, but nevertheless, you have to be true to where you are and where your heart’s at."
Weller releases his new record ‘True Meanings’ on September 14, and says it will be his last "reflective moment".
The former Jam star has documented the ups and downs of his life on the forthcoming release – which features the songs ‘The Soul Searchers’ and ‘Aspects’ – but says it will be the only time he’ll look back in his music because he doesn’t see the "point" in dredging up the past.
When asked if reaching the milestone age influenced his 14th solo album, the ‘Modfather’ told the latest issue of Q magazine: "Yeah, absolutely. That definitely fed into the record.
"I thought if there’s ever a time to reflect, it was now.
"There are lots of themes of loss and grief but also of love and passing of love on to others.
"No doubt, getting to 60 fed into it.
"I didn’t want to f***king do it for too long, man, because there’s no point.
"I’ve had my reflective moment and it’s time to crack on now."
Paul Weller admits 22 Dreams was self-indulgent
