Richard Ashcroft has always carried a certain weight with him — the voice of Britpop’s most spiritual frontman, the restless soul behind Urban Hymns, the poet who never stopped chasing transcendence in the everyday. Now, in 2025, he returns with Lovin’ You, his first studio album since 2018s Natural Rebel. Lovin You’ is an album that feels both like a continuation of his journey and a bold new chapter. Released on 10th October, the record arrives on the back of Ashcroft’s summer supporting Oasis on their Live25 stadium shows, before he embarks on his biggest-ever UK headline tour in 2026, playing to over 120,000 fans.
Lovin You is more than just another album; it’s a statement of survival, love, and fire from one of Britain’s most enduring songwriters.
Here is the ThisIsTheMusic track by track preview of the album.
Lover
Ashcroft wastes no time setting the tone and once again that he has a rare gift for turning simplicity into something transcendent. Built around the unmistakable riff from Joan Armatrading’s classic “Love and Affection”, the song immediately resonates with a sense of timeless familiarity, yet Ashcroft reimagines it in his own voice, colouring it with his trademark mix of longing and soul. It’s , the kind of track that immediately recalls his Britpop heyday while proving his relevance in the present. It’s both a tribute to the past and a reminder of the timeless power of a great guitar line. There’s a warmth and intimacy running through the track, but also an undeniable gravitas. By borrowing from Armatrading, Ashcroft taps into a lineage of classic songwriting, paying homage while pushing the song somewhere new — into that bittersweet space between Britpop nostalgia and timeless soul.
Out Of These Blues
Slowing the pace “Out Of These Blues” finds Ashcroft in reflective mode. A blues-inflected ballad, it leans on rich textures and a vocal that aches with lived experience. The song is carried by a steady groove that mirrors the slow climb from despair into redemption. The title tells the story: this is Ashcroft wrestling his way free from shadows, and you can hear it in the performance. The verses are hushed, intimate, almost world-weary — but when the chorus comes, it swells with something bigger, a light breaking through cloud. There’s an almost gospel-like quality in the delivery, as if he’s searching for salvation in every line.
Musically, it’s stripped back yet warm, with organ swells, guitar lines, and subtle rhythm work that recall the rolling soul of classic Van Morrison or even echoes of Urban Hymns’ widescreen ambition. Ashcroft’s vocal is the anchor: raw, unpolished, but utterly convincing.
Heavy News
Here Ashcroft digs into his talent for widescreen melancholy. “Heavy News” unfolds with a cinematic sweep, strings and layered instrumentation creating a sense of both intimacy and grandeur. Guitars cut sharper, the rhythm section has bite, and there’s a pulse running through the arrangement that keeps the song striding forward. It feels like a modern cousin to Sonnet or Lucky Man, capturing that balance of personal sorrow and universal resonance. Lyrically, the song grapples with life’s burdens, but instead of succumbing, it pushes back. There’s a sense of standing tall in the face of adversity, of refusing to be broken. Ashcroft’s vocal leans into that message — raspy, urgent, almost cracked at points, but that rawness is exactly what sells the song’s truth.
Oh L’Amour
“Oh L’Amour” finds Richard Ashcroft at his most romantic and cinematic. Draped in slow-burning instrumentation and carried by a lilting groove, the track feels like a love letter written in widescreen, with every note saturated in warmth and yearning.
The arrangement moves with patience — each guitar strum, each piano chord, each vocal inflection placed with intention. It’s a song that doesn’t rush; instead, it unfurls, creating a space where intimacy and grandeur coexist. Ashcroft’s vocal, textured and vulnerable, gives the track its heart. He sings not as the swaggering Britpop frontman, but as a man still in awe of love’s ability to lift and devastate in equal measure.
I’m A Rebel
Driven by a disco beat, I’m A Rebel is defiant, propulsive, and unapologetically bold. Experimental vocals, shimmering guitar and synths power this track: it’s Britpop bravado grown older but not softened. Ashcroft doesn’t just sing rebellion; he embodies it, reminding us of the spirit that has always fuelled his work.
Find Another Reason
The tempo drops dramatically with the meditative ballad “Find Another Reason,” that clocks in at nearly six-minutes, that emerges as one of the record’s emotional highlights. Built on a slow, spacious rhythm, it leaves room for Ashcroft’s voice — cracked but powerful — to do the heavy lifting. Lyrically it wrestles with meaning, searching for purpose in the face of uncertainty. It’s haunting, honest, and one of the album’s most affecting moments. It’s a song about meaning, doubt, and persistence, delivered with moving sincerity.
Lovin’ You
As the title track, “Lovin’ You” feels like the album’s beating heart. Built on a slow, swaying groove, it’s tender without tipping into sentimentality, soulful without ever being overblown. The track is driven by hip hop beats and uses the iconic guitar riff from Mason Williams 1968 instrumental “Classical Gas,” with Williams given co-writing credit
Ashcroft leans into simplicity here, letting warmth and honesty do the heavy lifting. His voice — weathered, unpolished, utterly human — is draped over gentle instrumentation that allows the emotion to breathe. It’s not just a love song; it’s a declaration, a reminder that at the centre of Ashcroft’s sprawling career has always been a raw devotion to connection.
Live With Hope
Spiritual and uplifting, “Live With Hope” feels almost hymnal. Built around a steady, meditative rhythm, it plays like a mantra — a reminder to persevere in a world too often marred by despair. The tempo moves with the patience of reflection, while the lyrics are a rallying cry for perseverance in the face of chaos. There’s a gospel-like undercurrent to the way Ashcroft sings it, equal parts prayer and protest.
Crimson Fire
Crimson Fire is driven by a shuffling hypnotic drums and soft key strokes and a sense of quiet intensity. The instrumentation leans into mood over muscle, building a soundscape that glows rather than blazes. Ashcroft’s vocal is measured, almost mantra-like, carrying the weight of experience without tipping into theatrics.
Fly To The Sun
Fly To The Sun” brings Lovin You to a close with a sense of lift and release. At just over three minutes, it’s concise but radiant, like a final burst of light before the curtain falls. The production balances power with space, allowing Ashcroft’s voice to soar across shimmering layers of sound.
Thematically, it feels like an ascension — a song about transcendence, about rising above the weight of the world and reaching for something greater. Where earlier tracks wrestled with love, rebellion, and resilience, this one looks skyward, carrying all those lessons into a final act of liberation.
There’s a cinematic quality to the way it unfolds: steady rhythms building toward a chorus that feels expansive, almost airborne. Ashcroft’s vocal, tinged with both grit and grace, anchors the flight, keeping the emotion grounded even as the song aims for the heavens.
As closers go, “Fly To The Sun” is a perfect choice. It’s not about bombast, but about transcendence. The album doesn’t end in fire or fury, but in light — a reminder that Ashcroft remains a master of endings that resonate long after the music fades.
With Lovin You, Richard Ashcroft doesn’t just revisit the strengths of his past — he refines them, recontextualises them, and infuses them with the wisdom of time. The record balances swagger with sincerity, defiance with tenderness, and fire with grace. It is, in many ways, a summation of his journey: from Britpop poet to elder statesman of UK rock, still searching for transcendence but now doing so with an open heart.
This is Ashcroft’s most cohesive and resonant work in years, and with his biggest-ever headline tour ahead, it feels like the perfect album for this moment in his career. Lovin You is not just a return it’s a reaffirmation. Richard Ashcroft remains, defiantly and gloriously, one of Britain’s most vital voices.
Richard Ashcroft’s new album Loving You is released on Friday 10th October and is available for pre-order here.
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