RICHARD ASHCROFT - ALONE WITH EVERYBODY

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i do believe that marketing folks at virgin records and i have very different ideas of what a single is. when i think of singles, i think of a song that should be catchy -- if not just flat-out good -- and should make people want to buy the album. in the case of richard ashcroft's debut album, the virgin people thought it best to release, literally, the two very worst songs from his album and, in the process, scare many people away from it. thankfully, the advanced word was strong enough for me to want to investigate further despite the singles making my interest wane, because what ashcroft has delivered is a quietly powerful, meditative album that is redolent of his finest moments with the verve. fans of both urban hymns AND a northern soul will want to take note.

let me say, first off, that it's not a complete success: what we have here is an album of strengths and weaknesses. when ashcroft plays to his strengths, he yields some very special moments; when he plays to his weaknesses, he gives us...the singles. i am being a bit too harsh on "song for the lovers": it works much better in context of the album where it's a thrilling beginning to the album; the string arrangement sounding more propulsive on each listen. "i get my beat" is a bombastic production similar to some of the songs off of urban hymns: it's a loping, mid-tempo song that is actually pretty good but given the rest of the album, it's a bit too much, a la "money to burn."

"brave new world," i've read, is a tribute to his deceased father. if this is the case, i'm sure he's made the old man proud. it's songs like this that typify what's best about alone with everybody: a big production without being over-the-top; a spacious atmosphere; great melodic and musical hooks; and a sound that's intimate. with the nearly omnipresent pedal steel of b.j. cole, the songs are lent a country-influenced sound that's very welcome, bolstering the meditative vibe of the album.

as mentioned above, the album's weaknesses come to the fore when ashcroft strays from what he knows best. "new york" sounds like ashcroft unsuccessfully trying to ape ex-verve guitarist nick mccabe's psychedelia; "money to burn" has way too much going on, even if it too does sound better in context of the album; and "c'mon people," unlike the go-between's "bye bye pride", sounds like a bad theme song to a jennifer love hewitt show with its chorus of "my people are makin' it now." it turns out that these songs have another thing in common: they're all uptempo and sort of rock-ish. with the exception of the very fine "crazy world," ashcroft's talents, as evidenced by his work in the verve, lay as a troubadour: his strong vocal presence and way with arrangements are best suited for the ballad.

proof of this can be found in the very country "slow was my heart" and the introspective, epic album closer "everybody." but the best examples are "you on my mind" and "on a beach," both of which are amongst the best things he's ever written. the former is a gorgeous love letter to his wife featuring ravishing strings, a striking arrangement, and a killer chorus. "on a beach" is utterly entrancing and succeeds unequivocally in capturing the essence of its title.

at the heart of the album, literally and figuratively, is kate radley, mrs. richard ashcroft. when she broke up with spiritualized's jason pierce, the result was that group's finest moment, the heart-rending ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space. the love (and child!) she shares with ashcroft led him to create the frequently stunning and frequently irritating alone with everybody. i've noticed that the bad tracks arise when he isn't writing about his wife. lesson to ashcroft, then: pay more attention to the woman and we'll all reap the benefits.