Paul Weller has released a video to accompany his track “Alpha,” which appears on his recent three-disc special edition of his album, A Kind Revolution. You can watch it above. The dramatic clip features actor Jay Simpson apparently struggling with his sanity as he deals with sinister events and characters around him.

“The album title is from a song called ‘The Cranes Are Back,’” the former Jam frontman said in an interview ahead of its release. “It’s a gospel piano tune. Yeah, it’s a reaction to how the world is. In some cultures, when cranes -- the birds – are back, it’s a sign of good fortune. But I was also thinking about the mechanical cranes, when you see them back in the city, it normally means industry and business is starting up again. It’s a song of hope, really.”

In another interview, when asked if the album was connected to the current global socio-political environment, Weller replied: “Yeah, absolutely. I think the answers are inside us all, really. It’s a revolution of the spirit or the soul in all people, as opposed to the revolution that just kills more people and lets more blood.” But he added: “I don’t think it’s a political record at all. It’s about people, humanitarian. But there are all sorts of songs on there. There’s a song about Edward Hopper, there’s some straight love songs – it’s a mixture of things.”

A Kind Revolution features contributions from Boy George, Robert Wyatt and others. Weller tours Japan, Australia, Ireland and the U.K. from January to March.

 

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