The Sigla Blog

Richard Ashcroft
Keys To The World **
One of the biggest truisms about The Verve was that despite their public profile and not immodest record sales, they only really had one decent song. And ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ . with its wonderful sweeping string hook - was pilfered from The Rolling Stones. Post-Verve Richard Ashcroft struggled to define himself outside of the band and leave behind that borrowed riff. After one well-received solo album and a follow-up flop, he returns moody, restless and attempting to pass off a what’s-it-all-about worldview. While many can pull off this apocalyptic angst (think Nick Cave, effortlessly), Ashcroft’s attempts at broodiness come off caked in clichés. If, as Ashcroft seems desperate to convince us, he’s older and wiser, it’s only in his raspy voice which at times veers in to . oh dear . Neil Diamond territory. Musically this isn’t sure-footed stuff, uncertainly stumbling into John Lennon heroics and his lyrical efforts too often come off as preachiness. He urges us: “Don’t give up/Don’t pack it inâ€? on ‘Music is Power’ and the title track’s narrative of: “No one loved you, cared if you lived or you diedâ€? turns into a queasy polemic. Similarly, the misjudged ‘Simple Song’ favours terrible echo effect backing vocals that demand: “Tell me, does it feel goodâ€?. We wish it did Richard.

Ashcroft is an average lyricist and relies too much on dated metaphors and allusions to things coming “crashing downâ€? which ups the yawn count. Where the album occasionally succeeds is when it manages to adopt a less is more policy as on the elegiac ‘Words Just Get In The Way’ and the sparse acoustics of ‘Sweet Brother Malcolm’. There are some stunning strings arrangements as on ‘Music Is Power’ and ‘Sweet Brother Malcolm’ but this is particularly apparent to the producer, who also spotted this and tries to shoehorn them in to every track. Musically, this safe mid-chart fodder might prove useful to dinner party enthusiasts as a background distraction. Hopefully the between-course banter blocks out the hackneyed song-writing.

Info: www.richardashcroft.com