The Verve: Richard Ashcroft (vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards); Nick McCabe (guitar, autoharp, keyboards, vibraphone); Simon Jones (bass guitar); Peter Salisbury (drums, percussion).

Personnel: Davide Rossi (violin, electric violin).

Audio Mixers: Chris Potter; Tim Bran; Cameron Jenkins.

Arranger: Davide Rossi.

FORTH (2008) is the Verve's first album since 1997's URBAN HYMNS. Listening to the album, it not only seems that the 11 intervening years have passed in a blink, but that the old-school Verve of the NORTHERN SOUL-era--dark, surging, and hypnotic--is back in full force. While the members of the Verve kept plenty busy during their hiatus--especially singer Richard Ashcroft, who embarked on a successful solo career--something uniquely thrilling is sparked when these four individuals play together.

Opener "Sit and Wonder" thumps along with dancey insistence, offering energetic counterpoint to the album's more dreamy, downtempo moments. "Love is Noise," the album's lead-off single, is classic Verve, balancing Ashcroft's shamanistic croon with Nick McCabe's swirling universe of guitar. The rest of the album follows suit, and while it may not exceed their classic efforts, it is--with its sonic adventurousness, lush atmospheres, and distinctive sound--a welcome addition to their catalogue.

Rolling Stone (p.71) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "In 'Judas,' McCabe fires bird-cry bursts of twang and threads long, humming lines through Ashcroft's R&B whoops. 'Love Is Noise' is smart acid-dance candy notched with a laughing-choir vocal hook."

Spin (p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "FORTH makes a strong case for the continued vitality of big-tent guitar anthems. On 'Love Is Noise,' Ashcroft bemoans our modern times over a sleekly propulsive dance-rock groove the Killers would kill for..."

Q (Magazine) (p.103) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "FORTH re-establishes McCabe as a supreme sonic texturalist in the lineage of My Bloody Valentine or Cocteau Twins."

Blender (Magazine) (p.86) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The best new tracks are the prettiest: Guitarist Nick McCabe's luscious noodling provides a perfect foil for frontman Richard Ashcroft's grand wail on 'Rather Be'..."

Paste (magazine) (p.57) - "The swirling groover 'Sit And Wonder,' the driving gospel rocker 'Love Is Noise' and the liquid gold streaked through 'Appalachian Springs' are as good as anything The Verve has recorded..."

URB (Magazine) (p.84) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Lead single 'Love is Noise' comes closest to gold, with its Balearic sample and energetic, almost danceable, rhythms."