29th June 2007 - ASH On Twilight Of The Innocents

"We're as busy as ever at the moment, we just finished the run of in-stores we told you about, all of which went really well. It was fantastic to see so many of you again and the live performances and signings were among the best we've done! Thanks to all of you who took the time to come along and bought copies of Polaris!

Our final ever studio album 'Twilight Of The Innocents' comes out on Monday, 2nd July. The album includes the singles 'You Can't Have It All' and 'Polaris'. Our decision to make this the last album was one we had in mind for some time; we have always been a band that has moved with the times and we think that releasing digital only singles will not only benefit us as artists but will benefit you, the fans! We're going to be able to get more great tracks to you more consistently!

As far as final albums go, we are really proud that this is it, as a body of work we honestly think its up there with the best we have done. You can pre-order your copy from iTunes right now with an exclusive two-part video documentary about the making of the album and extra track 'New Tattoo'.

We're playing an in-store on Monday 2nd July at Virgin Megastore Oxford Street to mark the album release, we'll be performing and signing copies of Twilight Of The Innocents, and we perform at 6pm, hope to see you down there! As always, thanks for the support, it really does mean a lot, we hope you like the final album! Thanks, Ash."

29th June 2007 - Twilight Of The Innocents - New Album Out Monday!

ASH's new and "last" album is released next Monday, July 2nd and you can pre-order it on iTunes. iTunes orders include the exclusive album track 'New Tattoo'. You can listen now to the whole of the fantastic new ASH album 'Twilight of the Innocents' right now on at www.nme.com. Click on Media Player on the right hand side, a new window will open and you either need to register or log in, and click 'next' as TOTI is now on the second page.

The NME Media Player also has an interview with Tim, where he talks about each track and you hear clips of each song, if you'd like to wait till Monday for the full album.

Twilight Of The Innocents tracklisting:

  1. I Started A Fire
  2. You Can't Have It All
  3. Blacklisted
  4. Polaris
  5. Palace Of Excess
  6. End Of The World
  7. Ritual
  8. Shadows
  9. Princess Six
  10. Dark And Stormy
  11. Shattered Glass
  12. Twilight Of The Innocents
  13. New Tattoo (iTunes pre-order only)

ASH will be at the Oxford Street Virgin Megastore in London on July 2nd at 6pm, to celebrate the launch of the new album 'Twilight Of The Innocents' and then perform an acoustic set, sign copies, smile incessantly and kiss babies. Call in on the day to get wristbands or just push your way in... they'll hardly kick you out!

ASH are also having an album launch at The Boogaloo, London tonight (invite only) and playing an exclusive iTunes show at the London ICA on Sunday July 8th.

13th June 2007 - ASH - The Final Album - Press Release!

"This was released to the press today regarding future Ash releases. We'll be discussing this in more detail soon. But to avoid confusion, this does not signal the end of physical releases. Things are just gonna be different and we're gonna have a lot of fun with formats and you the fans will get more content a lot quicker... it also does not state anywhere that we're going independant." - Mark

Ash - The final album

Irish rock band announce radical new music industry business model

London, June 12th 2007 – International rock band Ash, have announced bold new plans to cease releasing future albums in the traditional way.

On the eve of what will become their final album, 'Twilight Of The Innocents', the band have taken the decision to only release singles in the future.

Known for consistently writing hit singles since the early 90’s (17 top 40 hits, an Ivor Novello award and five Top 10 albums), the band feel it is time to make a stand in the future digital arena by only releasing singles. Periodically, the band will release compilation cd’s featuring the aforementioned singles.

Famously known for their pro-active stance on the internet (the band were the first to cultivate a huge loyal following using their online message board, were the first to use the internet via a fledgling nme.com, to get fans to vote for which tour towns they should play and had the first ever number one single in the download charts), the band feel it is now time to fully embrace the digital future of the music industry.

Owning their own recording studio means that the band will be able to write, record and release their music almost instantly, their fans will then benefit from not having to wait the usual ‘years’ between albums.

At a time when the music industry is in flux and with record sales at an all-time low, marketing music in the traditional sense is becoming increasingly less financially viable. The band hope that by harnessing the power of the internet and by being more creative in the way their singles are marketed, the record company can maximise sales, increase profits and enhance their already impressive 13 year career.

Tim Wheeler from the band:

"The way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks. It hasn't helped that most people have forgotten how to make a decent album. I'm constantly disappointed with records I buy. I believe our new album is the pinnacle of everything we've done thus far, and I'm proud that this will be remembered as our last album. The future lies elsewhere and we can have a lot of fun by changing things up. It's like the Wild West at the moment, a time to take chances and try out new ideas.

When you're tied to the album format, you find yourself waiting six months between finishing a record and releasing it. By leaving this behind we can enter a new phase of spontaneity and creativity. We have our own studio in New York, we can record a track and release it the next day if we feel like it, give it to people while it's fresh. We're the first band to do this , but I very much doubt we'll be the last.

We've been one of the best singles bands of the last two decades and we're still younger than a lot of bands on the current scene. I’m excited to push this claim further by dedicating ourselves wholly to the art of the single for the digital age."

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