|
For Richard Ashcroft, the music never stopped, he was already in the studio working on songs for his debut solo album when the split of The Verve was announced. For someone who had always been part of a classic band, the decision to go it alone came as a surprise to many, but for Ashcroft it made total sense; "I think what's exciting about it is that the possibilities are endless. All the different combinations of musicians that I can now put together to make the records that I first heard in my head is incredible".
Richard Ashcroft drafted in 'Urban Hymns' producer Chris Potter to work with and in making this album, Richard feels he has pushed the technology at his disposal further than ever before, and it's been a consuming experience. He's always written about universal truths; life, love, death and everything in between, it's no different on this album. "It's the big f***ers basically, the big pillars of themes and torment. I can't really see a way of writing about anything else. I think there's more facets of my personality coming through now, within the nature of music, the way it explodes, ebbs and flows is more in tune with my personality than before, there's more love in it I suppose. But with every song I put myself in another personality, so you can never pin down a song and say it's 100% me".
|
