Richard Ashcroft - These People (Album Review)

Richard Ashcroft is the Wigan-born former frontman of the well-known britpop band from the 90's called 'The Verve'. 1999 was the beginning of Ashcroft's solo career; following the split from The Verve, he released his first solo album in 2000 called - 'Alone With Everybody.' The Verve did actually reform in 2007 but then they split up again in 2009, then Ashcroft formed a new band afterwards and in 2010 they had already released new material and this band was called 'RPA And The United Nations Of Sound'. However Ashcroft decided to stick to his solo career and as of the Friday that has just passed; 20th of May 2016, he has now released a new solo album called - 'These People'. Ashcroft released two teaser tracks before the album release and they are called; 'This Is How It Feels' and 'Hold On'. Fans of Ashcroft were over the moon to hear that he was in fact releasing a new solo album for the first time in 10 years! So let's see what this lyrical genius has come up with this time!

The first song to open up the album is called 'Out Of My Body' and the instrumental sounds like a shoot-off is about to occur in Texas! This song is very abstract as it is about death and what you see when you die, as the title basically says... It is an out of body experience.

"Out of the darkness you saved me, I was alone and you came down to claim me."

The beat picks up after this line, and during the second half of the chorus you can imagine everybody with their hands in their air dancing side to side belting out the lyrics. As the song begins to fade out, violins were added in order to add that extra bit of tension that the track needed.

"Out of my body out of my mind, free of control, the way I like yeah. Out of my body out of my mind, out of this world out of time."

The second track is one of the teaser tracks called 'This Is How It Feels'. Now I reviewed this track on the 13th of March 2016 so if you would like a more intense analystic review don't hesitate to scroll down my blog and have a quick read. This is a really deep track, and it is full of depth and meaning. This is a typical Ashcroft track whereby he captivates you with his smooth rock voice and his well thought-out lyrics. The following song is called 'They Don't Own Me' and this track reminces me back to The Verve and personally, I think that this is one of the best tracks on the album by far. With the title of the track being used as the catchy chorus line, and the use of the violins was perfectly constructed and the violins were a beautiful addition to the song. 

'Hold On' is the fourth track on the album and the second teaser track. The piano opens up this song, shortly assisted by an electro element which was added to the instrumental. During the instrumental, Ashcroft was singing some quiet backing vocals, yet again this is another lyrical masterpiece from the musical prodigy himself, and my favourite line is...

"Fighting on your own can turn your heart to stone."

This line basically means that due to fighting all of your own battles alone you have seen a lot of things that you should not have seen and you have been through a lot of things that you should not have been. This has resulted in making you very thick skinned whilst simultaneously making you emotionless and cold-hearted. The catchy chorus to this track explains why it was chosen to be one of the teaser tracks...

"So hold on, hold on. Hold on, you know there ain't a lot of time. But I know that we can make it, you better hold on."

The mid-album track is also the title track called 'These People' and I think that it was very well placed as it breaks up the album nicely, instead of being the opening or closing track like the majority of albums. This is without a shadow of a doubt a romantic, slow love ballad. This song is about the battles you face within a relationship, and why the good times are worth the arguments.

"Imagine my life without your morning smile, your look of love says stay a while."

The chorus explains how people will try and interfere within your relationship and the battles that you may face, and how you will eventually overcome them.

"These people; sent to test us, sent to play with our minds. Come on baby, we're a little stronger, I know we can survive."

The next track is called 'Everybody Needs Somebody To Hurt' and it has that electro feel to it again on the intro and a pulsating beat accompany's it. 

"Everybody needs somebody to hurt it seems, caught in the middle of life it's just a riddle full of bad dreams."

When you've received so much pain, your inner sadist wants to know how it feels to be the one to hurt for once, and not to be the one who always gets hurt. Everybody needs to inflict pain on somebody else at one point in their life instead of you being the one who's hammered with emotional pain all of the time. 'Picture Of You' is another slow and romantic love ballad to come off this album. A slow acoustic guitar leads the instrumental, however it was shortly assisted by several other instruments before Ashcroft sings the opening verse of;

"I've got a picture of you, the glory of you. In my mind, on a hot summers day babe you know you blew them away with your smile, with your smile."

'Black Lines' cuts almost immediately in with the vocals, yet again this appears to be another love ballad. Except this is about trying to figure someone out who appears to be a bit of an enigma... The second to last track is called 'Ain't The Future So Bright' and it has a piano instrumental which shortly alternates into a slightly electro instrumental. 

"It's been a long time since I felt that sunshine."

You could take this song one of two ways; either that he's waiting for the sun to shine again or that infact the track is pretty controversial as the meaning of the song is the ultimate opposite of the title of the track. The last track to wrap up the album is called 'Songs Of Experience' and it is 5 and a half minutes of pure bliss ... Slow, yet uplifting - what a brilliant track to close the album up with.

In conclusion, Ashcroft has lived up to my expectations and beyond with this album and I am sure that none of his fans have resulted in being disappointed. I wish I had the money to go and see him on tour because it would have been amazing, and I have heard so many positive remarks back from the people who I know who have seen him on his 2016 tour. Every song was slightly different and the lyrical genius has still got it and has never lost it, to say the least! If I had to narrow it down my top 3 favourite tracks would have to be; 'Out Of My Body', 'They Don't Own Me', and 'These People'. Ashcroft just sings with pure passion and soul, and he's just such a believable songwriter and a captivating singer it will always be next to impossible to find faults with his work. I would definitely recommend that you give this album a listen and the other work that Ashcroft has done within his two previous bands and his solo career if you haven't already. What a flawless album, and a brilliant come back - it has been a pleasure listening.

10/10