Three years ago, when Richard Ashcroft opened for Liam Gallagher down at the Pavilion in Boston’s Seaport District, the Verve frontman walked on stage and told the crowd he could easily pull of performing his back-catalog with just himself and an acoustic guitar because he was armed with the voice and the songs to do it. And the man was not wrong; nearly a decade earlier, he displayed one of the greatest hidden concerts in Boston indie history, captivating the now-gone Villa Victoria in the South End with just himself and a guitar.
We’re reminded of all that today, as Ashcroft releases Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1, a 12-track collection of his solo and Verve work that comes with a fairly misleading title. This isn’t so much Tesla’s Five Man Acoustical Jam as it is Ashcroft re-working and re-imagining his most familiar material on his own terms. Tracks like “Sonnet” and “A Song For The Lovers” aren’t too far removed from their original forms, but the iconic and infamous “Bittersweet Symphony” is stripped down and stripped away from the most obvious litigious parts, and career standout “Cmon People (We’re Making It Now)”, from his masterful 2000 solo debut Alone With Everybody, is emboldened by guest vocals from Gallagher.
It’s pretty cool to see Ashcroft and Gallagher on board here, as their mutual respect for one another — one might think Ashcroft admires Gallagher for his fame, while Gallagher admires Ashcroft for his songs — displays two British indie titans celebrating together in the same colors on the same pitch. And quite simply, “Cmon People (We’re Making It Now)” just holds the fuck up.
Across its hour runtime, Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 is a pretty fun listen, transporting those who listen back to a time when these songs were a soundtrack for life. Stripped away from all the sonic drama and gravitas that held up the originals to the musical gods, we’re again reminded that Ashcroft has a lot of things on his side, but none greater than the songs.