Human Conditions With Brian Wilson And Richard Ashcroft

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson guest stars on the second solo album from ex-Verve singer Richard Ashcroft, ‘Human Conditions’, scheduled to drop into stores on the 22nd of October.

The new album follows Richard’s 2000 solo bow, ‘Alone With Everybody’ and features 10 new songs, with Brian singing harmony vocals on ‘Nature Is The Law’. The first single in the UK will be ‘Check The Meaning’, said to be available on the 7th of October, but no US single had announced at press time.

Musicians on the album include former Verve drummer Pete Salisbury, who played with Brian on ‘Alone With Everybody’, keyboardist Chuck Leavell, a veteran of tour and session work with the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, the Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and his own band, Sea Level plus Mercury Music Prize winner Talvin Singh on tablas.

Richard co-produced the album with Chris Potter, and Will Malone handled the string arrangements.

Talvin Singh Joins Richard Ashcroft On Follow-Up Album

A preferred singer of mine, Richard Ashcroft has revealed that he’s teaming with Mercury Music Prize winning vocalist, Talvin Singh, on the follow-up to his debut solo album, ‘Alone With Everybody’.

“The record is going really well, actually” Richard said. “I mean, there has been a lot of good people helping me, and it’s just the best record I can possibly make at the moment. That’s all I can perhaps say. I’ve got Talvin Singh playing tablas, so it really can’t get much better than that.”

He also divulged that the fresh material on his new album has been heavily influenced by the likes of The Byrds, Van Morrison and Brian Wilson. “I have had a big old-school vibe. I have recently enjoyed the lost-70s nuggets… that period where the 60s had kind of happened, and there was a comedown, but they were still striving to make this spiritual-sounding music, so it was quite twisted.”

Richard is due to debut some of these latest tracks when he links up with Oasis as a special guest at their Lancashire County Cricket Club show in Manchester on the 14th of September.