RPA & the United Nations of Sound - RPA & the United Nations of Sound

Seven albums into his career, four with The Verve and three on his own, good old Richard Ashcroft is back with a brand new project. RPA & The United Nations Of Sound was produced by hip-hop pinoeer No ID, string arrangements were courtesy of Benjamin Wright (the man responisble for the strings on Jacko's Off The Wall), the record was engineered by Reggie Dozier (Outkast, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye) and Mary J. Blige's guitarist Steve Wyreman weilds the axe. If this sounds like wheel reinvention from the person who has had Englishmen in Adidas and Parkas roaring along to his tried 'n' tested anthems for years, well, it shouldn't. Bells and whistles aside, RPA & the United Nations of Sound is still very much a Richard Ashcroft record.

Unsurprisingly, for someone who has always had admirable - if sometimes misplaced - self-belief, it is an unashamedly grand outing. Take opening track, Are You Ready? for instance. Over epic strings, Ashcroft cries the song's name over and over in that rich, soulful voice of his. At over six minutes, the song is twice as long as it needs to be but, even as the frankly ridiculous poodle-rock guitar solo (of which there are an almost unforgivable amount on this record) kicks in, you kind of go along with it, swept away by the singer's unbridled enthusiasm.

So, while overblown and lagging a zillion miles behind The Verve's better moments, RPA & the United Nations of Sound is ocassionally rousing and, in places, more agreeable than much of Ashcroft's solo work. The lyrics never go anywhere though, and listening to a 38-year-old warble on about all kinds of nonsense that is probably really profound to him, but to us just sounds like the ramblings of a space cadet, would normally be uncomfortable, but, again, Ashcroft gets away with it because of the absolute sincerity it is done with. Old Dickie really thinks he is changing the world and there is something genuinely appealing in that. It just makes you want to pick him up, give him a big cuddle, ruffle his hair and, in your best, proud Auntie voice, say "Oh youuuu."