As of September 8th, Richard Ashcroft, best known as the lead singer of Wigan-born rock band The Verve, has announced the upcoming release of a twelve-track album entitled Acoustic Hymns Vol.1. The album will feature new acoustic versions of well-known songs from Ashcroft’s various musical projects, including his solo work, RPA & The United Nations of Sound and of course, The Verve.
Pleased to announce that Richard will be releasing the new album ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’ Oct 29th. Featuring 12 newly recorded acoustic versions of classic songs from his back catalogue spanning both his solo career and his time with The Verve. https://t.co/z9vdkdFrHy pic.twitter.com/kthcQnDqvw
— Richard Ashcroft (@richardashcroft) September 8, 2021
Ashcroft has been an active musician since 1990 and boasts an impressive discography, having released five solo albums between 2000 and 2018, four full-length albums and one E.P. with The Verve between 1992 and 2008, and one album with side project RPA & The United Nations in 2010. The Verve first tasted critical success in 1992 after the release of their E.P. Verve, which featured songs such as All In The Mind, Gravity Grave and the UK Top 75 Singles charting tune She’s A Superstar.
Acoustic Hymns Vol.1 is set to be released on October 29th through Ashcroft’s record label RPA, via BMG, and is presently available for pre-order. Doing so will allow fans to treat their ears to the first of the twelve tracks; an acoustic rendition of The Verve’s seminal hit Bitter Sweet Symphony, a song renowned for its poignant lyrics and soaring emotional string sample from The Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s cover of The Last Time by The Rolling Stones, the latter being something that thrust the group into a lengthy legal controversy with Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein.
Former Oasis member Liam Gallagher also appears on the fourth track of the upcoming album; C’mon People (We’re Making It Now), a song originally released in 2000 ahead of Ashcroft’s first solo album, entitled Alone With Everybody.
The track list of the album is as follows:
- Bitter Sweet Symphony
- A Song For Lovers
- Sonnet
- C’mon People (We’re Making it Now)
- Weeping Willow
- Lucky Man
- This Thing Called Life
- Space & Time
- Velvet Morning
- Break The Night With Colour
- One Day
- The Drugs Don’t Work
