English pop statesman Paul Weller has set a North American release date for his latest solo album, “Illumination.” The disc will be issued Jan. 14 via Yep Roc records in an expanded version that will include a number of bonus tracks and a bonus DVD with videos for the album’s first two singles and five live cuts.
As previously reported, “Illumination” includes guest appearances by Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer of Oasis, Kelly Jones of Stereophonics, Steve Cradock and Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene, former Stone Roses guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, and vocalists Carleen Anderson and Jocelyn Brown. The album debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts in September, 20 years after Weller’s first chart-topping album, the Jam’s “The Gift” (Polydor) in March 1982.
Bonus tracks on the North American edition have already released as B-sides in the U.K. The bonus DVD will include videos for “It’s Written in the Stars” and “Leafy Mysteries,” both singles released from “Illumination” in the U.K., alongside five songs recorded at Weller’s July 2002 concert in London’s 22,000-capacity Hyde Park.
“Illumination” was largely self-written and self-produced by Weller, and recorded at Weller’s Black Barn Studios in Surrey and at Wheeler End in Buckinghamshire. The artist plans to follow the U.S. release of the album with a coast-to-coast tour in February.
“Illumination” is the follow-up to the live acoustic disc “Days of Speed” (Epic), which compiled performances from Weller’s 2001 European tour and included tracks spanning the singer/songwriter’s past bands the Jam and the Style Council.
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