Lovin’ You by Richard Ashcroft – Album Review
By David Schuster
Some things in life are worth the wait, and the new Richard Ashcroft album, Lovin’ You, is one of those things. After a gap of almost exactly four years, it’s perfect timing; the multi-platinum selling, singer-songwriter’s star has never shone so bright. Supporting the (temporarily) reformed Oasis, and having notable curmudgeon, Noel Gallagher describe him as a genius, has further widened the audience of someone who’s already chalked up more than ten million record sales.In a world which is, putting it mildly, a bit depressing at the moment, it’s a welcome ray of autumn sunshine to be treated to not one, but two, unashamedly joyful slices of pop.
I’m referring of course to the two lead singles from Lovin’ You; ‘Lover’ and the title track. It’s worth discussing both together, as they are similar but distinct, like asymmetric bookends. Both manage to encapsulate the best moments of a relationship, either new or old, where you thank your lucky stars that, against all the odds, you met this person. The lyrics aren’t complex, but rather infused with truth. When Ashcroft sings, “Lover, I was feeling low, nowhere to go and you bring me hope. Now lover, and I was insecure and I was on the floor and you lit that fire.”, it resonates at an instinctive level. And that’s the magic.
Richard Ashcroft, 2025
image: Dean Chalkney
“Gift for DJs”
‘Lover’ and ‘Lovin’ You’ also hark back to the golden age of hip-hop that spanned the late 80s and early 90s. He’s sampled the tunes of other musicians for the central riff, but built this into a montage of catchy beats and vocal drops to create something new and fresh. The first of these singles has a lush, deep acoustic bass line, guaranteed to get people onto the dance floor. A gift for DJs. The latter employs a very retro sounding, stuttered sample of regular backing vocalist Sarah Carter.
The use of distinctive and well known samples is always going to be divisive. From my perspective, if it’s done in the right way, with appropriate credit and royalties being paid, it does nothing but good: It brings the attention of Ashcroft fans to the work of Joan Armatrading, from whose composition ‘Love and Affection’ the riff for ‘Lover’ was taken. Likewise Mason Williams’ ‘Classical Gas’ that provides the hook to the title track. It seems wasteful for these to be lost to the mists of time. Why not give them a new lease of life? It’s a win-win scenario.
In both cases, going above and beyond the requirements of copyright, the original artists are credited as co-writers of the new songs. This is a brave and lovely gesture from a man that, having tried to do the right thing, suffered for decades from the music industry greed and injustice surrounding the Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’. That, thankfully was resolved, to the satisfaction of all the artists concerned, by the death of the perpetrator. I imagine the former Verve frontman was very keen to avoid any possibility of that happening again!
“Heart and soul”
Elsewhere across the album we get the musical variety that we have come to expect from the Wigan born artist. ‘Heavy News’, as the name suggests, is a straight up rock track with a punchy keyboard backing. However, it’s set apart by the spatial audio high-jinks going on in the background. Sounds and instruments appear to move around from left to right, front to back. You get the impression that the producers had a lot of fun in the final mix of this. And speaking of producers, Mirwas, who has famously written and produced many songs in collaboration with Madonna, is credited with co-writing the pure disco number ‘I’m A Rebel’. For this, Ashcroft adopts a Bee Gees style falsetto vocal style. Dance-floortastic mate.
It’s always pleasing when established artists are confident enough to explore other musical genres that they themselves enjoy, Robert Plant, to cite just one example. In that way, you’re assured that it’s something that they have put their heart and soul into. There’s a strong country rock vibe to several of the tracks. ‘Fly To The Sun’ and ‘Find Another Reason’ have a feel of 60’s Roy Harper to them, whilst ‘Oh L’Amour’ and especially ‘Out Of These Blues’ could have been taken from a lost tape of the late, great Johnny Cash. I’d like to see this as the third single to be taken from this release.
Lovin’ You is a great album from a world-class singer-songwriter, that’s destined to garner a wealth of music awards. One not to be missed.
David Schuster describes himself as an “adventurer, collector, musician and writer. Not necessarily in that order.” Growing up west of the Pennine hills of the UK and living his adult life east of them, he’s inclined to think that the Wars of the Roses were a mistake. David loves discovering new bands and musicians and is happiest listening to live music. He has travelled extensively in the UK and is fascinated by the variety, history and landscapes of the thousands of islands that comprise the British Isles. David is always reassured when online shops confirm that he’s not a robot.
