This past Coachella, Richard Ashcroft impressed us with his cheekbones, while the Verve as a whole sorta impressed us by playing new material, not just relying on “Bittersweet Symphony” and “Sonnet” (and etc.) to carry the day. The new work came off as more labored and wasn’t as immediately striking, but that’s partially because it is new material and we haven’t found our ways around it just yet. So far we’ve heard “Sit And Wonder” more than once and now we have a studio recording of the new single “Love Is Noise.”
We remember this one from Indio — its big background loop, the line about “soles Made In China.” In this studio take, the production is pleasingly dense, as are those aforementioned lyrics (backhanded). Launch a stream of the song by clicking here.
“Love Is Noise” is out 8/4 on Parlophone. Still unclear when the full-length is out. What is clear is that nostalgia, not invention, will save the music industry in ’08.
UPDATE: The new album Forth is out on the band’s On Our Own 8/19 in the US via Megaforce/RED and internationally 8/18 via EMI.
[Photo from the Verve @ Coachella]
You Might Also Like
 Richard Ashcroft – “Future’s Bright” (Stereogum Premiere) |  Stereogum Presents: In Memoriam 2009 |
 |
 |
Heard the single on BBC. It’s killer! Totally left field and nothing sounds better on the radio right now.
Great song. Its nice to have something other than the standard Verve song to listen to.
Don’t like it. It sounds like The Verve mixed with the Killers. It’s no good.
what’s that retarded loop?
Yep, nostalgia seems to be the name of the game ( at least nostalgia for someone of my age group. Is, say, a good new REM nostalgic for a 23 year old? Honest question) in 2008. New Verve doesn’t excite me too much, but good luck to ‘em. Speaking of early 1990′s college rock, I just got my third(!) notice from Amazon.UK that the MBV remasters are being ‘delayed’…now until September! I guess some things really don’t change at all, do they? What’s ridiculous is I’ve already read reviews of them. Why is Shields such a pain in the neck?
LOVE THE VERVE! One of the few bands that still has respect. Somehow they remind me of Radiohead, but in a different way.
The new song Love is Noise sounds very British, but it’s amazing amazing amazing!
Jarring, possibly terrible. That sample… did Boney M produce this? Also, pretty sure it’s “soles made in China,” ‘Gum.
Yeah, you’re right. There goes that pun. Fixed.
Haha, I’m dancing to the verve! This can’t be right! Not what I expected but it’s a nice surprise. Still in my mind the best (and I mean the best) band in the world.
Amazin’ tune- i
timeless music is where it’s at- and VERVE always deliver.
Nice One! – don’t sweat the small stuff. This record is large-
global and built for speed.
Pretty surprising, considering what we usually get from them. Album’s out on August 19 in the US, according to http://www.nme.com/news/the-verve/37557
all this buzz seems very promising but I’ll wait for the full album before i cast my vote.
I’ve been a fan of the Verve for some time. Their entire backlog is great. However, this new song is just a bit silly if you ask me. I think this is there attempt at earning a fiscally good retirement. kudos to them for that. they deserve it after all the shite they experienced early in their career.
I’ve been a fan since the first singles, “A Storm in Heaven”, and “A Northern Soul”, and I must say I’m very disappointed with “Love Is Noise” (and also “Sit And Wonder”). Nick’s guitar sound is again notably subdued, as it was on “Urban Hymns”. If this is a sign of things to come, I won’t be buying (The) Verve’s new album.
I saw them on their latest comeback tour in Blackpool in November and Nottingham in December, and it was obvious that they were pandering to the “Urban Hymns” bandwagon. What a shame. Their experimental jams and meandering soundscapes are now a distant memory.
Great new single. I think the sample in the chorus is from the Simple Minds’ song “Alive and Kicking.”
Great new single. I think the sample in the chorus is from the Simple Minds’ song “Alive and Kicking.”
unmitigated crap.
Brilliant lyrics. Soles made in China is a double entendre, on “souls”.
The song is a commentary on the divinity of love within all of us, and how we are blind to it. From the age of Christ to the present, we cannot hear it through all of the background noise. Today, we are distracted by rampant consumerism (made in China goods, prosaic malls) but this prevents us from truly being one. Those feet, well, those feet would be the scrutiny of God ? Jesus, whomever would judge the sins of today. And love is the pity that He would see when he gazes upon those blind to it. But Richard sees it, and he?s lamenting that fact very poetically.