Richard Ashcroft is contractually obligated to record another album for Parlophone. Ashcroft played a solo gig on 25 August 2008 as part of the Last Days of Summer Festival in Buckingham. The Verve broke up for a third time sometime between the last rehearsals in late 2008 and the summer of 2009. It was announced in August 2009 by a band's friend. A b-side compilation was considered a possibility, as Richard's team has asked the fans through his site about their feelings on such an album, but it's now very unlikely. In December 2009, Richard contributed the lead soundtrack song for the
Richard Ashcroft Also found in the songs are the ever-present spiritual lyrics for Richard, although here in fuller form. On 15 October 2010, Ashcroft released through his website a second fanclub-only track, "Here We Go Again". On the same day the song "Are You Ready?" was released as the first official single from the new album in the United States. During the same month Ashcroft had signed with the record company Razor & Tie in the United States. The radio edit of "Are You Ready?" is available for free on the US version of Richard's website. The album United Nations of Sound