Review:'Ashcroft, Fran' 'The Songs That Never Were'
- Label: 'Think Like A Key Music'
- Genre: 'Indie'
- Release Date: '22.2.24.'
Our Rating:
The Songs That Never Were is a collaboration between Producer Fran Ashcroft some lost tapes and AI to bring you his second solo album in a 50-year career twiddling knobs. So Fran has taken some old tapes and put them through AI to either remove or add things to them making new tunes from old.
The album opens with the main single Waiting For The Britpop Revival, well Fran might be, but some of us would rather avoid it, at least he doesn't want anymore Oasis, but all the other minor bands to come back and let him work with them again, as the main piano led tune has odd flashes of odd guitar over the snarky lyrics.
High Window is not the Window Peter Laughner was urging Richard to step away from, as the strings sweep in Fran gazes out at a magnificent view.
Suddenly has some really nice slide guitar that Suddenly comes and goes throughout this close up sketch of a song.
Cabdriver is a none too dark tale of the joys of my other trade, in no way a challenger to Hanoi Rocks crown for classic anthems to the trade, this is a late-night strummed missive.
Strange things happen when you add the sparest hi-hat to the acoustic guitar, as the drugs make you see alligators in the bathroom in the afternoon.
Carnival takes us to a very bucolic carnival hopefully not the dodgy one in Cornwall, with the keyboards sounding more like a Virginal or celeste than an organ, as we get all dressed up to have some fun.
Greater Of The Evils doesn't sound at all evil, it's more like a sixties folk rock demo tape. I Believe In You is a barely there strummed plea.
Compass keeps things nice and basic as he hopes that things work out, but of course it's just the way things go. High Wind Oh just seemed like background music.
The Songs That Never were should be played next to James Youngs The Songs They Never Play On The Radio, as Fran sings about songs that were never completed, it goes mildly psychedelic in places.
The album closes with Still Waiting For the Britpop revival that's a brief coda that is thankful the lights are still on.
Find out more at https://www.thinklikeakey.com/release/426021-fran-ashcroft-the-songs-that-never-were https://franashcroft.bandcamp.com/album/the-songs-that-never-were https://www.facebook.com/fran.ashcroft.7
