The Verve's Richard Ashcroft: 'I'm going solo again'

The Verve's Richard Ashcroft has said that he plans to return to recording solo material, despite his reformed band headlining festivals and releasing their first album in 11 years.

Ashcroft told Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1 that he had no plans to ditch his solo career, but reformed The Verve because he thought it would be "a shame" to leave the band dormant after they split for the second time in 1999.

"I will continue my solo stuff," he confirmed. "But it seemed a shame to leave this thing dormant when there is so much talent there."

The singer went on to compare Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis to Gerald Ratner – the British businessman who famously described the jewelry products his own company were producing as "total crap" in 1991.

"Even though Mr Eavis was acting like Gerald Ratner a month or two before [the festival], about his product, about his headliners [The Verve, who closed the Pyramid Stage bill on the final night], I still think it turned out really well," he said.

Ashcroft thanked co-organiser Emily Eavis from the stage during The Verve's Glastonbury performance this year but suggested her dad Michael Eavis had been trying to book Keane instead, something the festival later denied.

The singer added: "[For] some bands it fits like a glove. I think [fellow headliner] Jay-Z pulled it [Glastonbury] off massively.

"I've never done a bungee jump because I don't need to do one, because that's what performance is all about. It's about jumping out of the aeroplane. And that's the biggest jump I've done in a long time, so the afterglow was pretty long after Glastonbury."

Watch footage of The Verve headlining Glastonbury 2008 by clicking on the video below, meanwhile head to bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/ to hear the Zane Lowe session from the band in full.

The Verve's new album 'Forth' is released on August 25.