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X-clusive: Richard Ashcroft “My New Record’s Sh*t Hot”
Richard Ashcroft has been speaking exclusively to Xfm Online about his “raw” comeback record and 2006 headline shows, saying it’s his “duty to write tunes”.
Returning in the coming months with the first material since 2002’s ‘Human Conditions’, Richard Ashcroft gave Xfm an insight into the currently-untitled record’s sound.
“It’s sounding shit hot,” the former Verve frontman explained. “I’m pleased with it. It’s got a good mix to it: there’s some good raw rock ‘n’ roll on it, some moments of beauty and lushness, but there’re some tracks that are pretty raw, pretty heavy.
“And I think, lyrically, for me it’s hitting the spot,” he continued. “There’s a lot of different topics and things I’m going into, and for a time I was thinking about that very English way of writing tunes back from ’65 and ’66. The Stones, The Beatles, [all the songs] have a bit of Dylan twisted-ness in the sound, but they retain an Englishness to them.”
“That’s what I wanna be, a great English songwriter. I don’t want to be anything else, I realise that now. That’s my job, that’s my duty, to write tunes, not to f**k around.”
Ashscroft also revealed that while his past two solo albums have been highly produced, lavish affairs, the new as-yet-untitled record (while keeping some of the epic scale) will be a lot more rough sounding.
"There's still moments of beauty and lushness in there," he continued, "But there's definitely some tracks there are pretty raw, pretty heavy yeah."
And with the album set to hit stores in the coming months, naturally there’re already plans afoot for the man to return with some special headline live shows.
“I’ll be headlining my own shows in January, but keep your eyes out for some very small low-key stuff and working up for a big gig in Wigan, or somewhere in that region, in the summer.”
Keep checking Xfm Online for news of Richard Ashcroft’s comeback gigs and more news on the album as it emerges.
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