These People

AlbumMay 20 / 201610 songs, 51m 9s
Pop Rock
Popular
5.1 / 10

The former Verve frontman returns after a hiatus with another Richard Ashcroft solo album, with all the ostentatious orchestration, bumper-sticker mantras, and cursory electro-dabbling those entail.

4 / 10

Ashcroft returns with an album lacking any sense of focus – there are a number of new ideas on These People, but none of them feel properly fleshed out.

Also Terry Allen's Juarez and Andy Shauf's The Party

Six years after forming the United Nations of Sound -- a pseudo-group that lasted no more than a single record -- Richard Ashcroft pushes himself back into the spotlight on These People, a 2016 album that finds the former Verve singer reuniting with Wil Malone, an orchestrator who worked on Urban Hymns and Northern Soul. Malone's presence suggests These People may achieve a certain symphonic heft, yet Ashcroft sidesteps the churning psychedelia and progressive majesty of the Verve's prime. In its place, the singer/songwriter taps into a certain insouciant sophistication, favoring insistent arena anthems and finely tailored Eurodisco. Often, Ashcroft's intentions are apparent -- it's evident whenever he's following the blueprints of "Bittersweet Symphony" and "The Drugs Don't Work," just as it's clear that the dance beats and electronics are a bid for hip credibility -- but he winds up with sounds that aren't the ideal vehicle for whatever vague sociological protest Ashcroft attempts to mine here. If the music is separated from the message -- which is fairly easy to do, due to its slippery shimmer -- These People functions as a pleasing adult alternative record.

4 / 10

It's hard to imagine anyone having a higher opinion of this album than Richard Ashcroft himself. In recent interviews, he has delivered his usual line

(Righteous Phonographic Association/Cooking Vinyl)

6 / 10

Album Reviews: Richard Ashcroft - These People

Ex-Verve frontman throws everything but the kitchen sink into his fourth solo album. Review by Guy Oddy

5 / 10