The Verve broke up (again), Richard Ashcroft released a NSFW video about human trafficking, and now he’s onto the next one: working with producer No ID (most recently masterminding “Death Of Auto-Tune” and “Run This Town”), and fronting a band called the United Nations Of Sound because all the band names that don’t sound like they were coined in high school are taken up apparently. Details are scarce, although a lot of contributors are promised. Like those Jay-Z joints, “Are You Ready?” is sort of a fight song, dressed up here in middling-Verve-track attire, although it has slightly less to do with Antares or the foes of Roc Nation and slightly more to do with the last judgment and the Second Coming of Christ. The video shows Richard atoning for his sins by juggling soccer balls, getting his passport stamped a lot, and transcribing his evangelical inquires into lots of languages, shadow boxing, jogging. The time is now — to get in shape! Are you ready? Watch it at NME.
United Nations Of Sound’s debut is out 3/29 and is called Redemption, naturally.
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Ashcroft needs to start doing the drugs again! I admit the Verve is my favorite band ever, but the most recent album, his solo crap (aside from Alone with Everybody) and now this… just awful. Huge disappointment.
Chatzi – so agree with you, he needs to go back to being screwed up and taking LSD, way better music back then. But i guess thats what happens when you find happiness, the music gets all soppy. Bring back the raw power of the verve in the good old days!!!
Forth had some shining moments…a bit long, but better than his last 2 solo albums…I wanted to like Human Condition, great artwork, but overall was not so hot….the last one, Keys to the World was terrible…
It’s Richard Ashcroft. It’s heart-felt fantastic. Period.
The Verve were one of the best bands of the past few decades and a storm in heaven still leaves me with goose bumps no matter how many times I’ve played it. Just such a shame that RA has turned his back on such progressive sounds and settled on some middle of the road AOR dressed up in gospel spiritualism.
If only Nick McCabe and co could hook up with an Ashcroft devoid of such a massive ego. You would have thought by now they could all get along but I guess they never will and at least they gave us some great memories in Camden when they played a full back catalogue – something I’d given up believing could ever happen.
Long live the Verve, long live less ego.