THESE People is the first new album in six years from Brit & Ivor Novello award winning and Grammy nominated artist Richard Ashcroft.

Recorded in London, it was produced by Richard & 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) and Urban Hymns (1997) - plus his platinum-selling and critically-acclaimed debut solo album Alone with Everybody (2000).

Graced by one of the most unforgettable voices in British music, These People reaffirms him as one of the most defining and prodigious songwriters of his generation.

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.”

These People addresses such topics as the war in Syria, the Arab Spring uprisings and the death of a friend, but also brims with hope and defiance.

Richard Ashcroft will be making a long awaited UK live return in June and plays Isle of Wight Festival as the special guest of headliners The Who on Saturday night.