A Northern Soul is the second studio album by English rock band the Verve, released on 3 July 1995 through Hut Records. With the tumultuous promotion for their debut studio album, A Storm in Heaven (1993), combined with their friends in Oasis becoming exceptionally popular, relationships between members of the Verve became strained. After connecting with Oasis producer Owen Morris, the Verve went to a rehearsal space in Wigan to write material for the next album, which they recorded at Loco Studios in Wales. The sessions gained notoriety for the stories that emerged from the time, including vocalist Richard Ashcroft going missing for five days and him allegedly totalling a car on the studio's lawn. In the first three weeks, they had finished 15 tracks; after this point, the situation soured as guitarist Nick McCabe grew exhausted from dealing with the other members frequently partying and taking ecstasy, in addition to Ashcroft and Morris shouting and destroying objects. At one point, McCabe began to have a different working schedule from the others, starting at 10–11 a.m. while the rest of the band started at 6 p.m.
Variously described as alternative rock, psychedelic rock, and psychedelic soul, Ashcroft said A Northern Soul revolved around one person experiencing various emotions. He wrote material for it after the end of a six-year relationship, using a portastudio at co-manager John Best's house over several weeks. The Verve started promotion with a UK gig supporting Oasis in April 1995, followed by one in France two days later. After McCabe was injured in an altercation with a bouncer, a month's worth of shows were cancelled. "This Is Music" was released as the lead single from the album in May 1995, followed by the second single, "On Your Own", a month later. The Verve embarked on a UK tour in June 1995, which was followed by appearances at the Glastonbury and Phoenix Festivals. They went on a US tour, which lasted until August 1995, when they returned to the UK to play at T in the Park. At its conclusion, Ashcroft announced his departure from the band, which the press reported as if they were breaking up. "History" was the third and final single from the album, released in September 1995.
A Northern Soul received positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the album's musical depth, while others commented on the personal nature of the lyrics. Retrospective reviews and biographies of the Verve were also focused on the music. The album peaked at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart, going on to be certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 1998. All three of its singles peaked within the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, with "History" peaking the highest at number 24. Melody Maker, NME, and Select included the album on their lists of the year's best releases; NME also included it on their list of the 500 best albums of all time, while author Colin Larkin featured it in his book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). It has appeared on best-of lists for the Britpop genre by Musikexpress, Pitchfork, and Spin.
Background The Verve released their debut studio album, A Storm in Heaven, in June 1993 through the Virgin imprint Hut Records.Wilding 1998, p. 94 Reaching number 27 in the UK Albums Chart, it entered a music scene dominated by grunge, sitting against the emergence of British bands Blur and Suede.Clarke 1998, p. 39 Shortly afterwards, frontman Richard Ashcroft said he wanted to record the follow-up as soon as possible.Egan 1998, p. 71 In 1993, the band promoted the album with a UK tour, a European tour with the Smashing Pumpkins – by which point they were writing songs for their next album – a US tour with Acetone, and ending with a UK tour with Acetone and up-and-comers Oasis.Egan 1998, pp. 62, 76, 78, 82, 84 The Verve's notoriety as troublemakers was exacerbated by connecting themselves with Oasis.Baker 2008, p. 67 In 1994, the Verve went on a Europe tour, trekked across the US as part of Lollapalooza, and played a series of European festivals, including Reading Festival.Egan 1998, pp. 88, 92, 99 In the lead-up to Lollapalooza, the compilation No Come Down (1994) was issued as a stop-gap release. Keith Wood of the Verve's US label, Vernon Yard Recordings, said the band initially planned to record their second album around this time, until they decided to do Lollapalooza instead.Borzillo 1994, p. 26
Issues plagued the members during the stint, including drummer Peter Salisbury getting arrested and Ashcroft being taken to the hospital for not drinking enough fluids.Egan 1998, pp. 93, 95 The grind of touring the US eventually took its toll on Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe, with the pair not being on friendly terms.Egan 1998, pp. 98–99 Throughout that year, interpersonal relationships between members of the Verve grew apart, spurred on by the ballooning popularity of their friends in Oasis. That band's debut, Definitely Maybe (1994), had performed better on the charts than A Storm in Heaven, which was a commercial failure.Baker 2008, p. 68 Author Trevor Baker, in his book Richard Ashcroft – The Verve, Burning Money & The Human Condition (2008), wrote that following the popularity of Definitely Maybe, sales predictions for indie acts shifted considerably, and the band were seen by some commentators as lucky for not being removed from the Virgin Records roster. Brian Cannon of the design company Microdot, who created art for both Oasis and the Verve, attributed the frequent support of Hut Records boss Dave Boyd as a factor.Baker 2008, p. 69
Writing and Morris' involvement Since the recording of their debut album, Ashcroft had some life-changing experiences that would fuel his songwriting. Towards the end of 1994, Ashcroft and his girlfriend Sarah Carpenter ended their six-year relationship when the latter became infatuated with one of the band's roadies, Andy Burke, who was also one of Ashcroft's best friends.Egan 1998, p. 101 As Ashcroft was dealing with this, Jones was also going through mental struggles.Egan 1998, pp. 105–106 The latter found it difficult to acclimatise at home in Wigan after Lollapalooza and the US in general. McCabe was also breaking up with his pregnant girlfriend Monica; he was growing weary of others around him.Egan 1998, p. 106 Ashcroft fled to London and, subsequently, the countryside without informing anyone.Egan 1998, p. 102 Ashcroft attempted to reconcile with her in London over a period of three months. For two of those three, he was mentally and physically exhausted. When he reconvened with the rest of the band, they were performing the music that he felt conveyed the emotions he was experiencing, allowing the two aspects to go together with relative ease.Baker 2008, p. 72 Ashcroft stayed with Best, who was dating Lush frontwoman Miki Berenyi, for a period of six-to-eight weeks. Best had a portastudio in his frontroom that Berenyi used for making songs, which Ashcroft used when borrowing her acoustic guitar to write for himself.
When the band wanted a different producer for their second album, Noel Gallagher of Oasis proposed Owen Morris, who had co-produced Definitely Maybe. Morris himself shared a similar perspective on the rock and roll lifestyle as the Verve.Egan 1998, p. 106–107 Ashcroft said they went with him as he was around their age and equally as intense as the rest of the band in "everything we do, lifestyle, music, everything ..."Egan 1998, p. 107 As the members wanted to avoid repeating mistakes that they had made on A Storm in Heaven, they set about writing prior to entering a studio. The band holed up in their former rehearsal space in Wigan, which Ashcroft dubbed a "black hole, a claustrophobic pit."Baker 2008, p. 71 The space was located in a dark industrial warehouse, which they felt was inspirational to the point that Ashcroft and McCabe put aside their personal issues. The members drove around during the night on occasion, seeking further inspiration. Ashcroft learned of a tale from Keith Richards where he talked about the Rolling Stones being mocked by Dean Martin, which he connected to and used as an influence: "That's what happened to us ... we just thought, 'Fuck you all, we're gonna delve into our black hole in Wigan and make the greatest music you've heard in your life.Clarke 1998, p. 53 Morris, whose visibility as a producer increased after Definitely Maybe, visited the band during one of their rehearsals, feeling enthusiastic about what he was hearing. It was a fruitful period, with them having two albums' worth of songs in time for recording, contrasting with creating the bulk of A Storm in Heaven as they were recording it.
Recording The initial idea for the recording sessions was to take recording gear to their rehearsal room, as they were the most productive there, and it had the right atmosphere. When they realised that it was impractical to use it for recording, they decided on Loco Studios in Wales. Philip Wilding, author of The Verve: Bitter Sweet (1998), wrote that the sessions for their second album became mythologised as a combination of "lurid stories and gruesome hearsay echoing in stories of drug-fuelled jam sessions that became extensive recording sessions and bouts of reckless violence."Wilding 1998, p. 6 Baker conveyed a similar situation, while singling out co-manager John Best for describing the situation as lunatics running an asylum.Baker 2008, p. 73 Author Sean Egan, in his book The Verve: Star Sail (1998), said various tales have since come out about the sessions, including: Ashcroft allegedly totalling a hired car by driving it on the studio's lawn; the band often playing a single song for hours at a time; Ashcroft disappearing for five days; and the band debating whether to destroy a tape machine, which was valued at £100,000, so that they could get a sound to end the album on. Morris, who co-produced the sessions with them, said his job was to contain the audio of the band performing and not make it sound bland. The band and Morris were assisted in the studio by engineer Mark Lee. To aid the recording sessions, the band gave the studio a club atmosphere by playing music the entire time, taking ecstasy, and working on material when they felt inspired to. By the first three weeks, they had completed 15 songs; by contrast, for A Storm in Heaven, they only did one song a week in the same length of time.Egan 1998, p. 108 As the band as a unit strived for perfection, it meant that the individual members had strained relationships with one another.Ilic 1997, p. 26 After this point, the situation soured as McCabe, bagged by the issues with Monica, became tired of the frequent partying that the other members were doing. He said Ashcroft and Morris were yelling and breaking objects. Jones said they did not need any encouragement from Morris, who was "as mad as you like", adding that it was "all ... too much."
While Jones did not explain what happened during the sessions, Boyd said it was a group of people growing up, combined with ecstasy consumption. There was one instance where the band was locked out from entering the studio because an employee was concerned about what they could do to the facilities.Egan 1998, pp. 108–109 Boyd said Morris was also consuming ecstasy; there was one three-week period where Morris and the band ingested the drug every day.Egan 1998, p. 109 On one occasion, Best visited the studio only to find Morris, who was high on ecstasy, standing on the recording console with a glass of alcohol. He promptly threw the drink at the room's glass wall, leaving a hole the size of a large bullet. Best compared the encounter to entering a