“A collaboration between myself and me of fifty years ago” – Fran Ashcroft
In a long career as a producer Fran Ashcroft has worked in some of the best studios in the world such as Abbey Road, with artists such as Damon Albarn and The Dandy Warhols. He also a musician in his own right having previously played in late 70s band The Monos but now as a solo artist whose first release was A Tour Of British Duck Ponds which is full of rye observations and the askew British sense of humour you also get in early Pink Floyd/Syd Barret and The Kinks.
Fran is back with a two-track double A-side release ‘Waiting for the Britpop Revival’ and ‘Waiting For The Britpop Revival B Side’ both of which Joyzine has the pleasure of premiering right here. The songs came about when Ashcroft decided to collaborate with himself; or more specifically what he says is “a collaboration between myself and me of fifty years ago” using two broken tape recorders and some AI technology. He says:
“I’ve never made a record quite like this one. Nobody has. it was like building a bridge of time between my present-day self and me from 50 years ago. The song I heard in my head at 5 a.m. that morning reminded me of one I’d written many years before, which I was never quite happy with. I thought, you could almost put this new tune right over it. So, I dug the old tape out of the archives to see if I was right. And I was – the chords were the same, and it was even in the same key! If I could only remove and replace the vocals on the old mono recording, it would be an entirely new song,“
‘Waiting For The Britpop Revival’ is built on a chuntering pub-piano with Fran Ashcroft’s softly lilting voice bouncing along as a nice counterpoint to the crunchy guitars colliding in the solo. The vocals also also work because Ashcroft’s low-key delivery is a perfect contrast to abrasive lines such as “waiting for the Britpop revival, just another load of art school wankers (they usually are)” and “Don’t talk to me about Oasis, that’s a shit band name if there ever was one. Trying to look tough miming to a song on Top of the Pops.”
There is also a very meta spoken word middle section which outlines that there should have been a spoken word section in that part of the song. This is then addressed in the ‘B-side’ track which is essentially a ‘director’s commentary’ explaining how the record was made as well as including a section of the original song.
Given that many of the records released nowadays are so polished you can see you face in them it can feel slightly jarring to hear something that is so ‘real’, and by real I mean not completely constructed in Pro Tools or Logic software. It is refreshingly analogue, utterly charming, and by the third or fourth listen has completely wormed its way into your ear.
The album ‘The Songs That Never Were’ will be released on February 23, both digitally (as MP3, WAV or FLAC) and on 350g CD with a glossy 6-panel digisleeve. It can be pre-ordered directly from the label
NB: Given that there are a lot of new and emerging artists that read and grace Joyzine’s digital pages it is worth mentioning that Fran has written a book – The Analogue Approach To Digital Recording And Mixing – a “complete, comprehensive guide to the entire process of recording, from setting up your studio to mastering a final mix”. It can be ordered through the Crowood Press here.
Fran Ashcroft socials: Website/Store | Book order | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Spotify
Review by Paul F Cook
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