Erste Meinungen sind da:
Sit and Wonder - The first new track aired for fans at last November's reunion shows, this has taken on many forms, each more monumental than the last. It was blistering at Coachella, and I dare say the studio version is even better. The entire band is at the top of their game, but Nick McCabe and Pete Salisbury in particular stand out on this track. Richard Ashcroft gives us a bit of falsetto at times, and all is right in the Verve world.
Love is Noise - The single version was compact, but the album take is expansive, adding guitar layers and likely giving all the McCabe fans massive boners when it all unfurls. It's more complete than the single.
Rather Be - Recently performed live, though the muddy recordings don't tell half the story. It's mid-tempo, with piano and strings and loads of "na-na-na-na" backing vocals. If that terrifies you, it shouldn't, because it's fucking brilliant. "Is there anywhere better than here?" Ashcroft asks. Not likely.
Judas - Shimmering guitars, upbeat rhythm. It feels like it's meandering a bit, perhaps a bit too light. The tempo picks up as the song nears its end, with McCabe going absolutely mental. Sorta like what you'd imagine the Verve might sound like after listening to naught but the Style Council for a week. And yes: I mean that in the best possible way. "Judas" has deceptive depth, and I know it's going to stick with me a long while.
- A pause, solely to say the following: I can't believe I'm actually fucking listening to new Verve material! Sweet fucking ****!
Numbness - Fans of the early Verve who think Mad Richard steered the band and his solo career through a winding road of AOR pish from which he can never return will wind up picking their jaws off the floor after this one. His commitment to the journey into the far reaches of space McCabe, Simon Jones and Salisbury are on is absolute. "So these are my crimes..."
I See Houses - The fourth and final song on the album that's gotten at least one live airing in recent months. Simply mesmerising, gorgeous piano flourishes. It just rolls on and on..."How many lives must I waste...How many tears must I taste..."
Noise Epic - There's no way to put this other than to come right out and say it: It's the Verve's own "Bullet the Blue Sky." Because the Verve understand funk and soul music more than U2, it goes further in that vein than its predecessor. Jones plays the bass like a lead on at track that's far more 'epic' than 'noise.' The noise comes on near the end, like some lost, fantastic Sonic Youth avalanche. Clearly borne of a jam, and all the better for not having been trimmed to within an inch of its life. It's all over the place, and it's an amazing ride. "I got spiriiiiit!!!!" Full-on freak out music.
Valium Skies - It's sunshine breaking through the clouds. An unabashedly romantic song, but never over-sentimental. Far more meaningful than I could let on here. "She got all I need..."
Columbo - Comes in like a fog beneath the door before settling into a surprisingly effective Can-style vibe. Midway through it shifts gears, with Jones keeping the flow intact, but the song taking on a different meaning. No discernible reference to Peter Falk to be found anywhere. Thank **** for that.
Appalachian Spring - That same feeling of coming out from a storm to see the world still there, sun shining that "See You In the Next One (Have a Good Time)" provided, though far more optimistic in scope. It's clear there was no song more perfectly suited to close out the album than this one - Beautiful guitar work from McCabe highlights a band obviously enjoying themselves far more than any of us could have hoped for. This was previously known as "Mama Soul," as the lyrics indicate.
People hoping for a return to the clean, string-laden anthems found on Urban Hymns should prepare themselves for what lies in store. Based on a first listen, this is a band driven toward a destination far beyond the charts.
A day before heading off to California for Coachella, I spoke to Simon Jones for a piece for the New York Press. During the course of our brief conversation, he told me he thought they'd just recorded the best album of their careers. It's the kind of thing you hear from musicians trying to hype up their latest and greatest, but he may actually have been on to something. They'll never be able to reproduce the thrill of those first sonic adventures found on the early singles and A Storm in Heaven, the confidence of knowing they were the greatest fucking band on the planet on A Northern Soul, or the inclusive taking-on-the-world anthems of Urban Hymns. They can't reproduce them, and to their immesurable credit they don't even try. Instead, the Verve offer a collection that draws on the past with its eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead. I may be heady with the euphoria of hearing something I never believed possible, but I think the feeling is coming from somewhere else. It's the music. They said it was all about the music, and maybe they weren't being entirely honest. But the evidence here suggests music first, foremost and forever was what guided the Verve in the studio while recording Forth.
Is it the best album the Verve have ever made? That's up to you. All I can say is that it's like everything and nothing they've ever done. I didn't realize how much we needed them back again until this moment. And from the sound of it, they're realizing it, too. All four sound absolutely energized, as good as they've been for years and years. They're right where they belong.
