As a big Verve fan, I was excited to hear about some new material from Richard Ashcroft. I really enjoy the album’s first track, Lover; the anthemic, Bitter Sweet Symphony-esque strings are brimming with nostalgia and it’s a real feel good song. Unfortunately, the rest of the album loses me. Ashcroft’s vocals are still on top form, and it’s fun to see him grapple with a variety of genres from disco, to blues, to hip-hop. However, this is at the cost of cohesiveness; the experimentation feels surface level, as if he wanted to dip into as many influences as possible without committing to a developed concept. A little disappointing… LT

Out now on Virgin