Paul Weller says people "weren’t ready" for his house record.
The 62-year-old rocker and his 80s pop band The Style Council originally attempted to release their 1998 album ‘Modernism: A New Decade’ in 1989, nine years before it finally saw the light of day, and Paul has now claimed the reason for the long delay was because record label Polydor wasn’t "ready" for a deep house record.
He said: "Polydor definitely weren’t ready for it, and probably our audience at the time might not have been, but it’s hard to say.
"It was a bit of an underground sound still at that time, it wasn’t mainstream in any way. Years later I can sort of see their thinking – that doesn’t mean I agree with it – but of course the influence and house music in general has just kept going, even now it’s still banging drums, man.
"But that’s what it was at the time and you have to accept it."
And although Paul had to wait nearly a decade for the record to be released, he says he has "no ill feelings" about the decision, because "the whole business is different" now.
The ‘Wild Wood’ musician – who released his latest solo album, ‘On Sunset’, through Polydor on Friday (03.07.20) – added: "It’s funny though, because I can remember when I was first at Polydor, all them years ago, everyone was always older than me.
"Now all their team is at least 20 years younger, but I like that. I really love a lot of the artists they’ve got on their roster as well [Billie Eilish, Celeste, Sam Fender] so that was good enough for me."
When it comes to the future, The Modfather – who was also the lead songwriter in The Jam – doesn’t have a clear plan, as he just wants to continue doing things that make him happy.
Speaking to BBC News, he said: "I love just making music, making records. I don’t wish for anything else to be honest with you."