Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Verve: Leaving It Up to the Gods
by Daniel Alleva




As Verve bassist Simon Jones would tell it, sometimes all it takes in this world is the desire to take care of unfinished business. For those that have not been keeping score, this is the second time that The Verve – arguably the best group to come from Britain in the past two decades - has risen from the ashes with a great new record in tow. The first time was in 1997, when they released the highly successful Urban Hymns – but only after disbanding in the wake of the psychedelic epic that was 1995’s A Northern Soul. Now, with the release of Forth – their first album in ten years – The Verve have returned with the same swagger that they were known for. “This band is a big part of our lives, and we’ve got a lot of things left to do in this band,” says Jones, calling from the U.K. “But when you keep breaking up after every album, you look like a fucking idiot.”

The future of the Verve post-Urban Hymns was short-lived, when in 1999, singer Richard Ashcroft decided to disband the group and pursue a solo career. So, what drew Ashcroft, Jones, Nick McCabe, and Peter Salisbury back into the dazzling spectrum of The Verve again was purely a series of phone calls. Salisbury and McCabe – after not being in touch since McCabe left the band shortly after the release of Urban Hymns - reconnected again, and began to throw around the idea of playing together once more. Jones - who had never once given up on the idea of playing music again with his old mate Nick McCabe - needed no persuasion whatsoever. According to Jones, “It was down to Richard, really… and Richard did the right thing and called.”

When talking about the mega-success of Urban Hymns, Jones compares the experience to that of a train losing its wheels, and says that the band wasn’t geared up enough emotionally to handle the pressure. During the time, even the confident Ashcroft seemed taken aback by all the commotion. He sent fans into frenzy, weeks before the album was released, when he was spotted in the crowd at an Oasis show in New York City. Weeks later during a promo spot, he likened the experience to something out of The Who’s Quadrophenia and said, “It was like The Verve turned into Michael Jackson or something!” Tension would soon boil over in the group: resulting first in McCabe’s departure, then fallout from the legal matter that ensued around the band’s big hit “Bittersweet Symphony.” But while Ashcroft may have had enough, Jones now has other thoughts on the band’s ultimate second demise. He would have preferred a hiatus, which would have given the band time to regroup. “I don’t think we’re the sort of band to put out a record every year. You know, we’re not that type of band,” he says. “But everyone’s got their own opinion about it.” Jones continues to say that, “It’s all in the past now. It’s important to learn from our mistakes, and make sure it doesn’t happen again - to really hold on to this thing that’s precious, and to value it, and not be so flippant.”

With Forth, these four distinct personalities that each has their own ideas about making music have made a record that sounds intuitive and fresh. Because The Verve’s intention was never just to reunite to do a few gigs, Forth has the concentration and flow of a true rock epic. Many of the albums tracks punch with power, and are reminiscent of the band’s very first records. A lot of this has to do with Nick McCabe. A brilliant musician, McCabe rejoined the group late into the recording sessions for Urban Hymns. But on Forth, his presence is layered deep into the mix of the album, and his atmospheric sound runs rampant.

Despite all this, Jones knows that his band could be described as tumultuous, and there are always rumors that claim another break-up is inevitable. “I’ve found the best way to deal with that is to not to dip your toes in that sort of environment,” he says. “If you’ve got four people, and it’s supposed to be a democracy, then you are always going to butt heads. But that, for us, has always created great music.” And with a new generation of fans being enlightened by The Verve’s music, the impact of reforming has been incredibly positive. “I say to people that (Forth) is the most definitive Verve record,” says Jones. When the band played The Theater at Madison Square Garden in April, their two-hour set was comprised of fan-favorites that covered their deep catalog through and through. “A lot of people who only bought Urban Hymns come to the gigs not realizing that we’re a pretty psychedelic fucking band, and I love when they walk out looking like, ‘Holy fuck!” One of the tracks from Forth that is sure to make its way into The Verve’s sets when they tour in support of the album is “Noise Epic,” an 8-minute freakout a la “Gravity Grave,” a song from the band’s very first EP.

The Verve, for now, is embracing the freedom to be totally spontaneous, and they have re-lit the torch that burns so brightly in the memory of many fans across the world. The time in-between The Verve’s latest jaunts was long and hard. But listening to Jones, there seems to be reason to stay optimistic. “We’ve learned that this is how we’ve got to do it... instead of looking at a calendar that’s full for the next three years of your life, and it being this sort of daunting, ‘how the fuck am I going to do this?’ sort of thing.” For all of their ups and downs, there has always been a simple premise in The Verve, one that has held true since they started such a long time ago. “We’ve just gotta go in there and leave it all on the floor, and leave it to the gods.” One can only hope that the gods Jones speaks of aren’t in the habit of taking things away, because a world without The Verve again is too unbearable a thought.