Album Review: Richard Ashcroft – Natural Rebel


Natural Rebel



Don’t be fooled by the title, this is not rebellious music. As for natural? More and more so for Richard Ashcroft.

Over the course of his nearly 20-year solo career, Ashcroft has readily become a troubadour; as well as the handful of tracks The Verve produced that crossed over, the power of the band was in the sonic dreamscapes that the full complement of members concocted, the breakout tracks much safer and written by Ashcroft himself.

Taking that lead, his first solo album sustained a bit of pace, but each album became less and less compelling but no less listenable, until the career nadir of the United Nations Of Sound project an album that, a few hip-hop beats aside, was so emotionally over-wrought as to become grating. That it was preceded by a powerful final (at time of writing) offering from The Verve highlighted a stark contrast.

And so Mad Richard disappeared for a few years, re-emerging in 2016 with the strong These People which added some house sprinkle to his universal musings. Since then he has been ubiquitous, most notably as Liam Gallagher’s soul partner in crime. Huge support slots in Manchester for Liam as well as Roger Waters (not to mention a ‘secret’ set at Finsbury Park), have only served to remind people of some of his astonishing songwriting achievements. He’s also running a hilarious PR campaign thanks to The Coral although, needless to say, he’s not taking mockery well.

So you would think he would play it safe from here, with anthemic acoustic indie-rock the order of the day. Not so. The key influence on Natural Rebel is Tom Petty (RIP), who was himself anthemic but with a more middle-of-the-road hue. It’s most notable on All My Dreams, a curious choice for an album opener, the subject matter being the love of his life Kate Radley, one can safely assume. More of the same follows on Birds Fly, which is a full-on string ballad with a twist. As ever, Ashcroft is going for timeless songwriting, always covering the big themes of love, life and pain – first single Surprised By The Joy is as radio-friendly as he’s ever been; ‘I wanna walk the garden with you. A natural rebel, here I am’.

There follows a lot more in this vein, including That’s How Strong and We All Bleed, with its gospel-Stones vibe. ‘I’m born to sing’ he asserts, and it’s undeniable that there is something about that tremendous baritone that keeps you involved. it’s specifically on the former where he flies. As is to be expected on the tenth album of his career, there are echoes to past work; That’s When I Feel It harkens back to Keys Of The World, and A Man In Motion would sit comfortably on Human Conditions.

It’s a bottom-heavy album, with virtually all the pace in the second half; Born To Be Strangers and the electrifying Money Money add funk, gusto and rock to proceedings, the first an 80s New York strut, the second an out-and-out rocker, a fantastic Stooges-esque killer complete with riff and solo.

Richard Ashcroft has always been more mature than his years, the last of the great songwriters of that generation (Gallagher, Yorke, Albarn et al) to turn 50, and even that’s not for another three years.

If Natural Rebel is anything to go by, middle-age seems a good place to be.



(Richard Bowes)


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