Richard Ashcroft's new album is "Lovin' You"

That a song called I'm A Rebel exists on Richard Ashcroft's new album probably won't surprise anyone. That he sings it in a confident falsetto, as it bounces along on chunky wah wah guitar and 1978 disco bass before proclaiming "My baby knows what I'm talking about", is much less predictable... it is utterly magnificent.
I'm A Rebel is produced by Mirwais, who played keyboards on Out Of My Body and remixed Hold On for the former Verve frontman's 2016 album These People, and now gets to replicate with Ashcroft what he did with Madonna on Music.
Regular co-producers Emre Ramazanoglu and Chris Potter helm the rest of his first full new album in seven years, but by that point in his comeback, listeners are already prepared for the image of Ashcroft in platform boots with a goldfish in the heel.
You'll know already Ashcroft has sampled Joan Armatrading on the opening Lover, while he sings in the same high register on Heavy News, the most frantic gonzo rocker he's gone near in years. Later, the title track's Cajun intro and Classical Gas sample soon builds into a mix of giant drums and soulful strings that initially make you think Smith & Mighty have returned from hibernation. The outsize drums also return for the compelling Crimson Fire.

There are plenty of more regular Ashcroft instalments, too - Live With Hope is an empathetic phones-out moment, the closing Fly To The Sun a ballad so big Ashcroft won't need a plane to get there.
But even the anthems have creative new touches, like the Americana dustiness powering Out Of These Blues.
In short, it's Ashcroft having a ton of fun. Having behaved and stuck to playing the big tunes supporting Oasis recently, here's the mystic who casts no shadow, shaking things up for himself and seeming to fall madly in love with the new moves he's making. It's exciting that it all feels like Ashcroft is just getting started all over again.