'One reason why there was so much going on was that almost all parts started at the top and continued to the end. Paul did write a few songs in a more traditional way, like the acoustic guitar ballad 'By The Waters', but tracks like 'Green' and 'That Dangerous Age' are very free-form. It was all very organic, even though it wasn't a traditional approach to songwriting. They didn't use plug-ins to create synth sounds. A lot of the stuff that you think is synths is in fact Paul going through several guitar pedals, often using his Danelectro guitar.

Simon would create backing tracks and loops with beats and samples and synth sounds, and then Paul would try vocal melodies and guitar parts on top. Sonik Kicks was mixed on the SSL Duality at Dean Street Studio 1.'A lot of the album came into being through a free-form writing process. This was during May, and we mixed half the album, took a couple of weeks off, then did another three weeks of work at Dean Street, took a month off, and did another week of recalls and adjustments and piecing the entire album together. Paul liked what I had done, and asked me to book another two weeks. So I booked four days at Dean Street Studios and mixed these three songs. Six weeks later, Paul called me and asked me to have a go at mixing three tracks for the album, and if he liked what I did, I could do the whole album. It was very layered and lacking in definition and dynamics. I remember thinking that there was a great album in there, but that there was too much going on. 'I did this in March 2011 and he played me about 15 tracks. 'When Paul is making music, I often go to his studio to listen to it,” says Kybert. Sonik Kicks was recorded at Weller's own Black Barn studios, and Kybert's work in completing the project earned him an 'additional production' credit. Sonik Kicks was mixed by Jan 'Stan' Kybert, who previously engineered and mixed Weller's 2002 album Illumination, and co-produced 2004's Studio 150 and the following year's As Is Now. The album was co-produced and in part co-written with Simon Dine, who performed the same roles on 22 Dreams and Wake Up The Nation, and features several other long-standing cohorts, such as guitarist Steve Cradock and Britrock luminaries Noel Gallagher and Graham Coxon. This might sound like a strange departure for a man mostly known for British soul and guitar rock, but on Sonik Kicks the old and the new are seamlessly integrated. This year's UK number one album, Sonik Kicks, is his third successive creative peak, and makes extensive use of electronics, cut and paste, dub techniques, and Krautrock-style rhythms. Paul Weller is four years into a widely acknowledged creative roll, beginning with his 2008 album 22 Dreams and continuing with 2010's Wake Up The Nation. The challenge for mixer Jan Kybert was to forge a coherent album from a mass of ideas. Paul Weller's latest album was brimming over with musical creativity.

Syncplay skipping to the end