- Music
- 18 Feb 15
They've also announced Dublin and Belfast shows...
We guess it really is Ash Wednesday. Tim Wheeler confirmed that work was well underway on a new Ash album last October and that we'd have it early in 2015 and, true to his word, we've now been given the first sample of the forthcoming Kablammo!.
New track 'Coccoon' is an immediately infectious, no-nonsense slice of pop-punk. Classic Ash, then. You can stream it below.
With the record nearing completion, the band will play fresh material at a fan-only RAK Studios show today and in London's Barfly tonight. They've also confirmed Dublin and Belfast shows for summer.
You can catch them in Whelan's on June 7 and the Limelight on June 8. Tickets go on sale this Friday.
Drummer Rick McMurray has been talking about 'Cocoon'.
“It’s Ash at their frenetic best: a wall of guitars and a shot of adrenaline with a sweet melodic chaser. One of the earliest songs written for the forthcoming album, you can hear how excited the three of us are to be back in the same room. Having this much fun crammed into two and a half minutes is probably illegal.”
Speaking about the new LP, he says: “After a wait of 8 years, and a long string of singles, we’ve gone on to do what we said we would never do again: we've only gone and recorded a brand new album!
“We set out to capture the live essence of Ash, the closest sonic predecessor would be 2004's Meltdown, with the songwriting of the Free All Angels singles. We've stripped away the electronic overtones of the A-Z series and made a streamlined blazing guitar record.
“On every song you can hear what makes this band tick, our beating (atomic) heart. It's a visceral expression of what has driven us since 1992. Passion, melody and Ash.”