News Archive

Ash will drop by the Kerrang Radio studio next Tuesday (27th February) morning to appear as special guests on Ugly Phil’s breakfast show between 6-9am GMT.

You’ll be able to replay it via their site’s mediaplayer if you’re not out of bed or miss it, we’ll give you details on the link next week

Ash drummer Rick McMurray has spoken to NME about the approach the band took to recording the new album, part of the article runs as follows:

Ash have revealed their new album will be musically poppier than 2004′s ‘Meltdown’ – but lyrically much darker. The band will release their as-yet untitled fifth studio album, in July, preceded by a single, ‘You Can’t Have It All’.

And drummer Rick McMurray revealed that a bad time in frontman Tim Wheeler’s “personal life” have inspired his lyrics on the new record. “Compared to ‘Meltdown’, it’s a lot more pop. Musically, it might not be as heavy, but lyrically it is. Given the experiences Tim’s had over the last couple of years, there’s a lot of love and loss going on.”

McMurray also admitted the band were apprehensive about reverting to three-piece after the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley last year.

He confessed: “It’s almost ten years since we were a three-piece, so we were all a wee bit worried how it would work out, but we wanted to go back and simplify. There were a lot of nerves, but after a few days we realised it was working so well we would keep going at it.”

And McMurray said that having their own studio on New York affected the group’s approach towards making the record.

He stated: “It feels more natural, rather than being in this massive studio where they have certain ways of doing things. It was more relaxed – when something wasn’t working we’d just scrap it and start again.”

Asked about summer festival appearances, including a rumoured Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds festivals slot, McMurray said: “I think we’ll be doing a few…though I’m not sure if anything’s finalised yet.

“There are rumours about Reading and Leeds, it’s definitely the festival that we always look forward to. Some of our best gigs have been there, especially in the tent in 1995 and 2001.”

In other news the band have confirmed that two full scale singles will preceed the album release, with the first being ‘You Can’t Have It All’ on April 16th and a second single around June/July.

There’s a new studio blog interview with Ash frontman Tim Wheeler up on the official Ash website. Tim confirms that the recording and mixing of the album is complete and the mastering and sequencing of the album will be done in the next week or so, he also reveals that the artwork for the album is complete and that Ash will be flying back to the UK next week to shoot a video for the new single.

There is a new interview with Ash bassist Mark Hamilton up on the official Ash website, the first of 2007, in which he reveals the album is nearing completion and that mixing will start on January 15th.

Also Ash are featured in this weeks issue of NME, you can see a scan of the article on Ash’s myspace site.

Ash bassist Mark Hamilton gives us the latest update from the studio where the band are currently recording there new album. Mark details the bands plans for the rest of the recording sessions, possible B-Sides, album names, artwork and when live dates can be expected. Check the offical Ash site for the full interview.

From Ash’s official myspace site:

“Kerrang! magazine just popped into the studio to hang out and hear how the album’s progressing. We played them 5-6 songs and they seems to be into what they heard and we also did a brief interview. They’re going to be running a news feature in the next few weeks so remember to check the shelves. Photographer Dave Willis took some pics of Tim and Mark on the rooftop of our studio building which looked amazing. (Rick was home in Scotland…) Hopefully they’ll see print. We also signed some copies of the US version of Meltdown (with bonus DVD) and gaves them some T-shirts which they’re gonna run as a competition.

Quick studio update: Tim is getting through the vocals, slowly but surely. Blacklisted is sounding really cool…” – Ash

Ash frontman Tim Wheeler answers questions about the on-going recording of the new album in the ninth installment of the bands on-line studio journal. The full interview can be read on the bands official website.

Ash bassist Mark Hamilton has spoken to NME.com about the bands new album. The article runs as follows:

Ash tell all about new album
Ash bassist Mark Hamilton has spoken exclusively to NME.som about the details of their forthcoming album, due for release next year.

Recorded in the band’s Manhattan studio, the have recorded 14 tracks, with plans to record “a few more” in full, before choosing the final tracklisting for the album.

With elements of Bob Dylan, Beck and even Motown influences, they revealed that several of the songs even hark back to the days of 1996 debut album ’1977′.

Hamilton likened potential album opener ‘Girl Who Can’t Be Owned’ to “a Foo Fighters track, with a Dylan-esque melody” while ‘Suicide Girls’ is “more in the vein of earlier classic Ash. Nathan (Connolly) from Snow Patrol loved it when he heard it”.

He described ‘Shadows’ as “a slower number with a bit of a retro-vibe. The bass line is a bit of Motown in the verses and it’s got pretty heavy lyrics about the effects of breaking up”.

And ‘Polaris’ was written at a very famous band’s villa. “Tim (Wheeler, frontman) wrote the main hook line on a piano at U2′s villa in the south of France. The original dictaphone recording is also used in the intro of the track. There’s an underlining U2 vibe to the overall song”.

Hamilton added: “There’s quite a mash of styles, instruments and samples on ‘End of the World’ which gives it a Flaming Lips or Beck feel”, and he described their recently live debuted ‘What is the Meaning?’ as “a pretty straight-up fast punk rock track with personal and dramatic vocals. Tim sings in a state of confusion asking for answers to what is going on in his life, it’s kind of autobiographical”.

According to Hamilton, “The tracks are still developing in the studio and all of these songs will not make the album.”

Recorded so far are:

‘Girl Who Can’t Be Owned’
‘Suicide Girls’
‘Shadows’
‘Roulette’
‘Princess Six’
‘Polaris’
‘Dark and Stormy’
‘You Can’t Have It All’
‘End of the World’
‘Blacklisted’
‘Shattered Glass’
‘Saskia’
‘What is the Meaning?’
‘In Hell’

The album, the follow-up to 2004′s ‘Meltdown’, is set for release in 2007.