Fingerprints Music

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On his second album since disbanding the Verve, Richard Ashcroft completes hismetamorphosis into a soul singer. The roundhouse psychedelic epics that trickledfrom his band's playbook onto his first solo set, 2000's Alonewith Everybody, yield to deliberately paced, contemplative songs that allowAshcroft the crooner to stretch his syllables like Al Green or Marvin Gaye.This is still the man who belted "Bittersweet Symphony," only nowhe's pondering the personal rather than the metaphysical, and he'sdoing so over subdued, even sophisticated backing.

The opener, "Check the Meaning," is seven minutes of slow-burninggroove, with Ashcroft turning his back on the world's evils and declaring,"Got my mind meditating on love." From romantic to sage, a wisened-soundingAshcroft gets heavenly harmonies from Beach Boy Brian Wilson on "NatureIs the Law." And on the folk-infused "Buy It in Bottles," theformer Verve singer recalls his work on albums like 1995's A NorthernSoul, although an assured swagger has replaced the youthful urgency of thepast. Not that he's gone soft. Even the most ballad-like moments on HumanConditions crackle with Ashcroft's usual mix of wit and doom, and heand his band cut loose on a few tracks; the energetic "Bright Lights"features propulsive drumming from his old Verve mate Pete Salisbury and a tablasolo by Talvin Singh, and "Science of Silence" moves along at a midtempopace but features swirls of electric guitar. Still, Ashcroft is both an adultnow and a professional singer, and he's intent on making this perfectlyclear.