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Whilst Richard Ashcroft himself has described the mix of styles in his new work as eclectic, mostly ‘Lovin’ You’s vibe is still a mellow, Radio 2 friendly one.
Come to think of it, isn’t one definition of freedom doing whatever you want to do provided that it doesn’t cause harm to anyone else?
Rock stars (and Richard Ashcroft is one of those, however you define the term) aren’t really allowed that luxury.
Forever young by necessity, your average rock star is supposed to never be satisfied with themselves, to declare instead publicly changed courses, personalities and artistic visions every time a new one of their records comes out.
Healthy for the mind or body? No.
But as the former Verve frontman took to the stage supporting Oasis on their victory lap this summer, he was afforded a glimpse of the kind of devotional fandom he and his former band gave up after their post-Urban Hymns dissolution.
As a by-product, with that also came the realisation that survival for thirty-five years in one of the most brutal businesses there is was an achievement few peers could join him in.
As well as that, there was other stuff to attend to though. Lovin’ You is Richard Ashcroft’s seventh solo release and his first of wholly original material since 2018’s Natural Rebel.
Inevitably, some things have changed. This is no longer the barefoot lysergic explorer, the free spirit who wrote psychedelia drenched tunes like A Man Called Sun and brought Glastonbury to a standstill in 1993 with an epic performance of Gravity Grave.
For his part, whilst Richard Ashcroft himself has described the mix of styles in his new work as eclectic, mostly Lovin’ You’s vibe is still a mellow, Radio 2 friendly one.
Some old habits die hard though. A teenage fan of hip-hop, Richard Ashcroft originally had a sample heavy project in mind but, anticipating the long delays in getting clearances, went with employing it selectively – as on Lover, an opening track which borrows unashamedly from Joan Armatrading and has a contemporary, R&B-lite clip to it.
He’s back on more solid ground with the gentle Americana of Out Of These Blues, the verses owing a debt to Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Helplessly Hoping, the chorus likewise a whiff of Lucky Man but, still clutching his Ivor Novello award, it’s the singer who has the last laugh.
Working again with guitarist Steve Wyreman alongside longtime collaborators Chris Potter and Emre Ramazanoglu, it’s probably fair to say that in the grizzled ballad Find Another Reason, Crimson Fire’s dreamy rock n’ roll and the bare bones closer Fly To The Sun, most listeners are getting what they bargained for.
Where things on Lovin’ You get interesting though are when they – and everyone else – is jolted out of their comfort zone.
Famous for co-writing Music for none other than Madge herself, Gallic super producer Mirwais turns I’m A Rebel into a disco stomper (with Richard Ashcroft doing a passable Jake Shears), while the title-track comes loaded with UNKLE style breaks, neither the work of an artist who it appears feels bounded by expectations.
Whether either of them strictly work or not isn’t the point. This is not a nobody who once was a somebody trying to resurrect a career by tilting at ultra-modern windmills.
And whilst there’s obviously a level of inner confidence required to let your material embrace these new forms, when that happens the results here are never hollow or obviously counterfeit.
Lovin’ You is the record Richard Ashcroft wanted to make, and people are going to think things about it. Like all records, it’s best you listen to it yourself and make up your own mind.
That’s freedom.
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