Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley has recorded a solo album in Los Angeles with Polyphonic Spree producer Eric Drew Feldman.

Says Tim Wheeler: "Charlotte's tastes are more dissonant and more discordant. It's hard for her to get her vocals on our records, as there's an Ash style we want to stick to. I'm dying to hear her LP, but she won't play us it until it's all finished."

The as-yet-untitled collection is due in December and features Hatherley on all instruments bar drums.

"Charlotte being Charlotte, she's being very guarded about it but apparently it's in the XTC/B52's/Bowie vein," reveals a source close to the band. "It's something she wanted and needed to do, but only as a side-project. There's no question of her wanting to leave and go solo."

As for the day-job, Ash jetted off to Los Angeles last week where they're assembling the follow up to Free All Angels with Foo Fighters producer Nick Rasculinecz.

Talking to www.ash-unofficial.com, Mark Hamilton described the nine demos they've taken with them thusly:

'Detonator' – "Heavy riff-lead pop song, very Nirvana-esque"
'Meltdown' – "Hard song to sum up. Simple riff, catchy chorus and Tim showing off his metal god solo skills."
'Vampire Love' – "Gothic undertones, heavy metal guitars and the mini-Grohl on drums."
'Star-crossed' – "It's the big power ballad with Tim singing about two lovers who are in no uncertain terms 'fucked'."
'Out Of The Blue' – "In the same vein as 'Burn Baby Burn', has 'radio hit' written all over it and is bound to become a favourite. I'm confident this song could be a single."
'Wipeout' – "Another uptempo rock out, definitely inspired by touring with System Of A Down."
'Singapore Song' – "Finally gets recorded! It's dark, it's brooding and it namechecks Belfast."
'Blue Blue' – "Kind of like a 60's pop/rock 'n' roll song. And it's about sex."
'Tinseltown' – "A nine-and-a-half-minute epic which covers every genre from 4-to-the-floor handbag to Sonic Youth spaz outs and Kraut rock."