Richard Ashcroft to come back big

Richard Ashcroft has revealed his comeback album is sounding "shit hot" - and he wants to be known as a "great English songwriter".

The star will be returning in the coming months with his first new material since 2002's 'Human Conditions', and he's pretty happy with the way things are going.

He told XFM: "It's sounding shit hot. I'm pleased with it. It's got a good mix to it: there's some good raw rock 'n' roll on it, some moments of beauty and lushness, but there're some tracks that are pretty raw, pretty heavy.

He added: "And I think, lyrically, for me it's hitting the spot. There's a lot of different topics and things I'm going into, and for a time I was thinking about that very English way of writing tunes back from '65 and '66. The Stones, The Beatles, [all the songs] have a bit of Dylan twisted-ness in the sound, but they retain an Englishness to them.

"That's what I wanna be, a great English songwriter. I don't want to be anything else, I realise that now. That's my job, that's my duty, to write tunes, not to f**k around."

Ashcroft also revealed that while his two solo albums - 'Human Conditions' and 2000's 'Alone With Everybody' - have been highly produced, lavish affairs, the new album will be a lot less polished.

"There's still moments of beauty and lushness in there," he continued, "But there's definitely some tracks there are pretty raw, pretty heavy yeah."

And following on from his Live 8 slot with Coldplay, Ashcroft hopes to mark his return with some special headline live shows.

He revealed: "I'll be headlining my own shows in January, but keep your eyes out for some very small low-key stuff and working up for a big gig in Wigan, or somewhere in that region, in the summer."document.write(unescape("