Ash share previously unreleased track 'Bittersweet Blues'

Ash have dropped their previously unreleased track 'Bittersweet Blues', ahead of the reissue of their 1996 debut album 1977. The album is being reissued to celebrate its 30th anniversary, it will be released on October 16.

'Bittersweet Blues' was originally written before 1977 was recorded, the band also played the song live while supporting Therapy? in 1995. Ash recorded a tape of the single in 1996 however, frontman Tim Wheeler continued to improvise the song's lyrics onstage, as it was still unfinished.

Drummer Rick McMurray explains how the song was rediscovered.

"After we began to play ‘Bittersweet Blue’ live, it was probably the best part of 20 years before that song was mentioned again, when our back catalogue moved to a new home to be digitised," he said.

"That’s when we discovered there were some missing master tapes!"

McMurray goes on to say that the recordings they found were borderline unusable. Wheeler was tasked with creating new lyrics for the song. McMurray said he "delivered, getting in touch with his teenage self, writing lyrics and resurrecting this long lost treasure for your listening pleasure."

Ash are currently on their 1977 tour, which began in Australia on September 4. The tour includes shows in New Zealand, Asia, Europe, and the UK. The band will finish up with several shows in Ireland in December.

The band released their ninth album, Ad Astra, in October 2025.

Tickets for the Irish shows can be found here.