Ash on Twilight Of The Innocents

• 27th Jun 2007

Last week Ash revealed that their forthcoming album ‘Twilight of the Innocents’ would be their last. Thousands of fans stared at their screens in disbelief until they scrolled down to discover that the band would still be recording in the future, but they’d just be releasing tunes as immediate singles instead. Drummer Rick McMurray explains the thinking behind making Ash the world’s first singles band and what their decision means for the record industry.

“With most albums these days you can tell ‘there’s a single, there’s a single’ and the records don’t hold up well at all, but we’ve always tried to avoid that,” Rick says. “I haven’t been impressed by many records at all recently, maybe only some obscure stuff plus the new ones from The Knife and Snow Patrol.

“We’re in a really lucky position because this is the last album in our contract so we’re free to agree whatever we want for the new one. We’ve been very fortunate because I think a lot of bands are wanting to do this [singles only releases] but they’re tied down. I don’t think we’ll miss recording albums, singles-only is definitely the way things are going.”

Rick also says that making the new record their last album has given the band a new spark and freed up their energy. “We’re touring this album until the end of the year and maybe a bit longer but after that we’ve got no set schedule so its really exciting, it reminds me of the early days. I hate the way that it’s thought that when you release an album then that’s who you are until the next one comes out, but this way we can make the songs more relevant by releasing them as soon as they’re ready rather than waiting three years to put them on an album.”

For now though the band have got one final album for the public before they go singles only and it’s their first release since 2004’s mixed ‘Meltdown’.
“I think that album may have alienated some fans because it was heavier but I’m still proud of it because it’s still got the pop hooks underneath it. It was just an odd music scene to release it into because at that time everything was going purely indie.

“The new one’s a return to the poppier stuff we did before, but we didn’t mean to create a different sound from ‘Meltdown’. It’s like we’re a new band again with the three-piece, it’s a new start for us, but ‘Twilight of the Innocents’ is (and I hate to use this word) mature. I guess we’ve grown up from the more innocent tunes that we used to make and there’s also Tim [Wheeler]’s lyrics which have got a more honest felt to them.”

So, a mix between the classic-Ash pop tunes and a more mature, world-weary angle (witness the video to new single ‘Polaris’ with its none-too-subtle anti-war theme), ‘Twilight of the Innocents’ promises to be, at the very least, an interesting listen. “I’m most proud of the first and last tracks on the album. The title track in particular is a departure for us because it’s a big six-minute epic that’s really intense and it just grows and grows. I’m proud of ‘End of the World’ as well, it’s our next single and it’s really big and anthemic and schizophrenic. When we play it live people get it straightaway and are singing along by the second chorus, I think it will go down really well at Reading.”

Ah, Reading festival. It will always be a special place for Ash and Rick says the band’s headline slot in the Radio1/NME Tent in 2001 was possibly the best gig they’ve ever done. “Reading 2001 was incredible, it was absolutely rammed, everyone was singing along and there were loads of people outside who couldn’t get in. It was like the culmination of the year because the press had kind of written us off before ‘Free All Angels’ and even after two top 10 singles I think we were still underestimated. That year was all about trying to get The Strokes on the main stage and they asked us to change to the main stage too but we’d had such an amazing time playing the tent in ’95 that we wanted to stay there.”

Rick says the departure of Charlotte Hatherley at the start of last year after nine-years in the band was amicable and has given the band a new start. “We knew she wasn’t that happy in the band and I think everyone’s happier these days and it’s worked out best for all of us. Our last tour [the Higher Education tour of Universities] was one of our favourites, its great to be back as a three-piece with everyone singing along. We did some secret shows in New York and the lead up to going on stage as just the three of us again was nerve-wracking, but after about one song we were really comfortable again.”

Fifteen years after the band formed and a ridiculously quick twelve years since they released ‘Girl From Mars’, you’d think the band would be starting to tire from life on the road, but yet again Ash aren’t your average band.
“We release the album on Mon 2nd July and then on Tues-Fri we’re doing a residency at London Koko so it’s great. I think Koko’s the new Astoria and that was one of the last places we played as a three-piece so it’s like going full circle. The only real difference between us now and back then is that we can handle our liquor better. We’re on our fifth album so some people are expecting us to mellow but we thrive on that…well, that and the buzz of the crowd.”