Classic Rock: The Verve Back On Form For Their Fourth Album - 11 Years Later

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Friday, 1 August 2008

The Verve Back On Form For Their Fourth Album - 11 Years Later

The Verve roars back to life after an 11-year hiatus between new albums with "Forth," a bracing blend of the experimentalism of the group's early work and the more structured songwriting of its last two efforts.
The set is due Aug 25th in the U.K. on Parlophone.
Only one song is less than five minutes long on "Forth," which begins with the seven-minute jam "Sit and Wonder." Atop a big bass groove and foreboding atmospherics, frontman Richard Ashcroft pleads, "Lord, give me the light," setting the table for the single "Love Is Noise," the most electronic track of the Verve's career.
The cut's sampled "woo-hoo" vocal and synths stake out new territory, but rarely have Ashcroft's vocals sounded as raw and angrily passionate.
"Love Is Noise" will be released in the U.K. Aug 4th digitally and Aug 11th in physical form.
"Forth" is further highlighted by the dreamy "Judas," arguably one of the most beautiful songs the band has yet penned, and the anthemic ballad "Valium Skies," a sure-fire future concert staple which is reminiscent of the hit "Lucky Man" from 1997's "Urban Hymns."
"I See Houses" muses on Ashcroft's everyday surroundings while pivoting between the eerie vibes of 1995's "A Northern Soul" and the elegant emoting of "Urban Hymns."

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