Paul Weller Find El Dorado
Released Jul 25, 2025 Parlophone UK
Consensus forming 4 professional reviews Updated Oct 1, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Consensus is still forming across 4 professional reviews. Paul Weller's Find El Dorado mines the past with patient affection, turning crate-digging covers and quiet originals into a warm, rootsy statement that critics largely applaud.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
Lawdy Rolla
3 critic mentions
“Lawdy Rolla, rendered in muscular gospel-rock style by Weller, is a track by late-’60s Afro-French R&B combo The Guerrillas” — Mojo
Nobody’s Fool
2 critic mentions
“Nobody’s Fool, if not exactly the keynote of Find El Dorado, ... is certainly illustrative of its themes and tone.” — Mojo
Handouts in the Rain
3 critic mentions
“feels like it’s never been more relevant - a powerful duet with Declan O’Rourke” — Hot Press
Full critic consensus
Paul Weller's Find El Dorado mines the past with patient affection, turning crate-digging covers and quiet originals into a warm, rootsy statement that critics largely applaud. Across four professional reviews the record earned an 80/100 consensus score, with writers noting a 70s aesthetic, pastoral arrangements and a melancholy, reinvention-minded approach that frames nostalgia as transformation rather than mere replication.
Reviewers consistently praise the album's most compelling moments: “Lawdy Rolla” emerges as a toe-tapping R&B highlight, “Nobody's Fool” and “Clive's Song” stand out for their subtle, collaborator-led reinterpretations, and “Handouts in the Rain” is singled out for its powerful duet work. Critics note sparse, tasteful production throughout, guests like Seckou Keita and Noel Gallagher as tasteful intrusions, and sweeping strings and brass that lift certain covers into personal territory. The professional reviews emphasize Weller's restraint - favouring feeling and feel over flash - and the record's unity despite its eclectic source material.
While praise centers on Weller's ability to make these songs feel shopworn and alive, some narratives imply the album's reverent mood may be polarizing for listeners seeking bold reinvention rather than gentle reimagining. Overall, the critical consensus suggests Find El Dorado is worth listening to for fans of rootsy R&B, pastoral folk and carefully curated covers, and it secures a thoughtful place in Weller's catalogue as a reflective, collaborative record.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Handouts in the Rain
Small Town Talk
El Dorado
White Line Fever
One Last Cold Kiss
When you are a King
Pinball
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
I Started a Joke
Never the Same
Lawdy Rolla
Nobody’s Fool
Journey
Daltry Street
Clive’s Song
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Ho
Critic's Take
Paul Weller revisits his teenage touchstones on Find El Dorado with a warm, lived-in voice and a band that understands nuance. The review revels in the album’s best tracks, notably “Lawdy Rolla” as a toe-tapping R&B highlight and “Handouts in the Rain” as a powerful, timely duet, while “Small Town Talk” earns praise for its soulful brass. Walshe’s tone is admiring and precise, noting sweeping strings and guest turns that lift these covers into something personal. This is framed as a fine and fascinating LP that leans into rootsy arrangements and social relevance.
Key Points
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“Lawdy Rolla” stands out as a joyous, toe-tapping R&B highlight and is called among Weller’s best recordings.
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The album’s strengths are its warm, rootsy arrangements, strong guest contributions, and socially conscious song choices.
Themes
Critic's Take
Paul Weller approaches Find El Dorado as a labour of affectionate curation, favouring pastoral, melancholic reinventions over flash. The review highlights standout covers like “I Started A Joke”, “Nobody’s Fool” and “Clive’s Song” as exemplars of his subtle collaborator-led touch. Bowes writes with warm approval of the album's unity and sparse production, arguing these best tracks show Weller reviving songs for their feel rather than fashion. In short, the best songs on Find El Dorado are the ones where Weller's reverence and restraint let forgotten melodies bloom anew.
Key Points
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The best song is the duet “Clive’s Song” because it culminates the album with a stirring guest appearance by Robert Plant.
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The album's core strength is affectionate curation and sparse, melancholic production that reinvents deep cuts rather than relying on nostalgia.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a tone equal parts wistful and crate-digger's glee, Paul Weller reshapes Find El Dorado into a series of little revelations, where the best songs - “Nobody’s Fool”, “Pinball” and “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” - reveal his gift for salvaging lost narrators. The record luxuriates in dun hues and warm beer atmospherics, and Weller’s pared-back readings make the tracks feel both shopworn and alive. He lets unlikely choices breathe - Seckou Keita’s kora on “Journey” and Noel Gallagher’s unobtrusive guitar on “El Dorado” are tasteful intrusions that elevate rather than dominate. The result is a covers album that behaves like an original, a found-objects record that consistently rewards attentive listening.
Key Points
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The best song is strongest where Weller finds a lost narrator and reshapes it with sympathetic, pared-back production.
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The album’s core strengths are its tasteful, eclectic song choices and Weller’s ability to make covers feel like original, atmospheric tableaux.