Paul Weller’s Find El Dorado is a quietly reverent mixtape of personal favorites, with guests like Noel Gallagher and Robert Plant adding depth to this intimate set of handpicked covers.
After nearly five decades of reshaping British music, from the mod-punk fury of the Jam to the soul-drenched sophistication of the Style Council and his solo career, Paul Weller enters a contemplative new chapter with Find El Dorado. It’s a lovingly curated collection of cover songs that feels less like a tribute record and more like private mixtapes that have been played, rewound, and finally passed along from a friend.
“These are songs I’ve carried with me for years,” Weller shares. “They’ve taken on new shapes over time. And now felt like the moment to share them.” That sense of lived-in familiarity echoes throughout the album, like a tracing of Weller’s musical DNA.
Find El Dorado feels intimate, unhurried, and even profound at times. It opens with the wistful melancholy of Ray Davies’ “Nobody’s Fool” and glides through the atmospheric ache of the title track “El Dorado,” reimagined with spectral beauty. There’s haunting jazz-infused elegance in Brian Protheroe’s 1974 cult hit “Pinball,” buoyed by a delicate saxophone from longtime Weller cohort Jacko Peake. And “Lawdy Rolla,” an obscure gem by French studio band the Guerrillas, featuring Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango, becomes a hypnotic, groove-laden standout.
Produced and arranged by Weller’s trusted guitarist and musical wingman Steve Cradock,the album is shaped by their connection. The vibe is lush but restrained, reverent without being overly polished. Hannah Peel’s orchestral arrangements add some needed depth, and the guest list reads like a generational summit with Noel Gallagher, Robert Plant, Seckou Keita, Declan O’Rourke, and Amelia Coburn all lending their voices and spirits.
What sets Find El Dorado apart is Weller’s unmistakable presence. His voice guides each track like a compass through his record collection. There’s no posturing here, no need to prove anything. Just a great songwriter finding new meaning in other people’s songs that helped shape his path. But Weller shows here that great interpreters don’t just replicate, they reveal. Each track becomes a window into the music that molded him, offering a rare glimpse of the influences behind his decades of musical metamorphosis.