When Money To Burn premiered in 2000, it was his first major visual statement since the end of The Verve. Following the breakup of one of Britain’s most revered bands, Ashcroft stepped out on his own with a song and video that captured both his ambition and his confidence as a solo artist ready to forge a new identity.
Money To Burn was released as the second single from Alone With Everybody after A Song For The Lovers, which had already proven that Ashcroft could command attention without the weight of The Verve’s legacy. But where A Song For The Lovers was intimate and spiritual, Money To Burn was widescreen and cinematic. The video, directed by Jonathan Glazer, who also helmed Ashcroft’s legendary street-walk performance in The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony, presented him as an artist stepping into a new phase of creative confidence.
In the Money To Burn clip, Ashcroft was once again front and centre, moving through surreal, filmic imagery that reflected the song’s themes of temptation, excess, and redemption. The video’s bold visuals and layered symbolism continued the grand, visual storytelling that had defined The Verve’s late 1990s era. Yet this time, there was no band behind him, only Ashcroft, centre stage, embodying the freedom and loneliness of his new journey.
Musically, Money To Burn encapsulated the expansive spirit of Alone With Everybody, blending rock, soul, and gospel elements into something lush and anthemic. The track featured an impressive lineup of musicians, including bassist Pino Palladino, percussionist Steve Sidelnyk, and organist Chuck Leavell, whose playing had graced records by The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. The song’s sweeping arrangement, enhanced by The London Community Gospel Choir and The London Session Orchestra, gave it a spiritual depth that mirrored Ashcroft’s lyrical reflections on materialism and meaning.
At the time of release, Ashcroft was eager to demonstrate that he could evolve beyond Britpop’s boundaries. The Money To Burn video was part of that transformation. Filmed with the same cinematic ambition as The Verve’s biggest visuals, it showed that Ashcroft wasn’t just another frontman gone solo – he was a fully realised artist capable of carrying a narrative on his own.
The Money To Burn video also served as a symbolic continuation of The Verve’s cinematic universe. Jonathan Glazer’s direction carried over the tone and scale that had made Bitter Sweet Symphony an instant classic, but in Money To Burn, the focus was inward. It was Ashcroft’s first step away from the band dynamic and into a space where his personal vision guided every frame.
The single was backed by two notable B-sides, Leave Me High and XXYY, which later appeared as bonus tracks on the Japanese edition of Alone With Everybody. Both songs reinforced the strength of Ashcroft’s songwriting at the time, offering fans deeper insight into the creative well that fuelled his first solo chapter.
Twenty-five years later, Money To Burn remains a defining moment in Ashcroft’s career, the point where he transitioned from Britpop frontman to cinematic solo visionary. The song’s lush production, paired with Glazer’s striking visuals, marked the beginning of a solo journey that continues today with the same intensity and conviction that powered The Verve’s finest moments.
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