Hold On follows first single This Is How It Feels, which heralded Richard’s return to an excited reception. The song was playlisted by BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 and was the #1 most played record at Absolute Radio and #2 most played record at Radio X last week. On Spotify, the track went Top Ten in the UK Viral Chart on the week of its release.
Watching personal and world events take a darker turn compelled Richard to record the album, his first new music in six years, and, he says, led to “a sense of urgency and a clearing of the mind.” While These People addresses such topics as the war in Syria, the Arab Spring uprisings and the death of a friend, it also brims with hope and defiance, as evidenced in the anthemic and sweeping crescendo of new single Hold On.
Recorded in London, These People was produced by Richard and longtime collaborator Chris Potter, as well as marking a reunion with Wil Malone, who worked with Richard on the string arrangements on the seminal albums by The Verve A Northern Soul (1995), Urban Hymns (1997), and his platinum-selling and critically lauded debut solo album Alone with Everybody (2000).
Equally channelling his classic output and exploring adventurous new sounds, textures and themes, and graced by one of the most singular and unforgettable voices in British music, These People reaffirms him as one of the most defining and prodigious songwriters of his generation.