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Ash - Twilight of the Innocents More than any other band, Ash are a band that I’ve literally grown up with. I remember sitting in the sixth form common room aged 17 listening to Trailer, and being very excited about this new outfit who were exactly the same age as us. I saw them at the Reading Festival in 1995, where the gap between ‘girl from’ and ‘mars’ just never seemed to end, but when it finally did the whole field went interstellar. And then their next album was called 1977, also the year that we were born, but released in my first year at University. And of course there were the shared passions for Star Wars and Jackie Chan. Talk about connection.
Not that they were ever my favourite band as such – but it was hard not to admire their energy, and Tim Wheeler’s knack for a punchy hook. For me their pinnacle was the Free All Angels album in 2001, a superb collection of short and disarmingly sweet songs, even when they were rocking pretty hard. Meltdown was appealingly raw, (read our review here) but just not as comfortable somehow. Significantly though, Ash sounded like a better band with Charlotte Hatherley. It just spread everything out and matured the sound (if not the lyrics). Clearly she wasn’t just helping reinforce the vocal harmonies.
So, since Charlotte left in January 2006, we’ve all been wondering how they would sound without her, and possibly even if they might call it a day themselves. Instead, they make the strange move of announcing that Twilight of the Innocents is to be their last ‘proper’ album. Their desire to concentrate on singles for the ‘digital age’ is certainly understandable; because 3 minute pop is what they’ve always been best at. But announcing it when you’re trying to promote a new album? Surely it just has the effect of making everyone think that making the album was excruciatingly difficult?
Whether that’s really the case or not though, the fact is that, sadly, Twilight of the Innocents is a weak album. It just seems to drift over you but never takes hold. And Ash have always known how to take hold of you, because their best songs are irresistibly charming. It’s hard to see whether they’ve decided to try and write more ‘grown-up’ songs, or if now they’re 30 they just don’t have those kinds of songs in them anymore. Whether they meant this connection or not, the album seems like the twilight of their own innocence. Yet it was that innocence that gave them that vitality.
Tellingly, the best tracks seem to be the ballads. They’ve always been part of the Ash sound, but the intense moments of pop-rock brilliance were where it was at. The title track is probably the strongest, constructed as if it were the title song for a Bond movie. Starting as a near whisper over increasingly lavish strings, it brews for a few minutes before letting loose with some serious tub-thumping. “I’m still breathing - my heart’s still beating” chants Wheeler in the chorus, and in these six and a half minutes Ash show the band that they perhaps could develop into, given time. The string arrangement doesn’t quite connect somehow, but it’s got the drama that you’d feel an older Ash should be commanding.
Polaris is also excellent, and for similar reasons, sustained throughout by a bright piano line while a full-blown arrangement builds to a wonderful, and touching, bridge climax. They’ve still got it, even if overall they’re not sure where they left it.
Sonically too, without Hatherley’s voice they just sound so much thinner. Wheeler’s voice is in good shape, but perhaps a touch nasal to be left hanging out on its own so much. One can appreciate that they didn’t want to look for someone to fill the gap, but it certainly feels like they need something in there instead. Some keyboards, some more arrangements, just something.
I’ll admit that I’ve never liked being negative about creative endeavour of any kind, because I know the energy it can take, and that sometimes you just happen to miss the target, despite best intentions. I don’t see there’s any need to pick the album apart any further, and the fact is that what is good here is very good. Indeed, it’s not even if any particular part is all that bad – it’s just not very memorable.
In the end, Ash have entirely justified their own decision to only release singles from now on. You can get onto iTunes right now and download the 8 points out of 10 songs, and ignore the filler that brings the overall score down. Here’s hoping for more three minute slices of pop perfection in the years to come then, just without the other bits in between. And still, I can't help but wonder that if I was still seventeen I might love this. Maybe it's just me that's grown up and Ash are as vital as they've ever been...
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