MUSIC - Crilly, vocalist of Bristol based goth punk quartet Ashestoangels, gives us an insight into their forthcoming album ‘With Tape And Needles’. Described as featuring “gloom-soaked tones, spiked and studded mini-anthems for the disenfranchised”, the 9-tracker is released via DustDevilSounds on the 26th August and single ‘Dorian’ is already available for your ears (and eyes) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LBgp7R0TB8
The Highest Choir:
This track started out as a much longer thing called Seraphim Song. We had been playing it in various forms for years and we knew we wanted to put a proper intro onto our first proper album. The Highest Choir is a faster and more streamlined version and we think its a good way to grab the listeners attention!
Dolls Dolls Dolls:
Dolls is the first song we recorded during the album sessions. It was while we were writing this that we started to work out exactly what kind of album we were making. We knew we wanted to go from the dramatic intro into a punk rock song and this seems to be a favourite live even though it's not even out yet! The guys and girls who came down to the studio did a great job on the gang vocals and with a full venue this sounds amazing.
Dorian:
Dorian was one of the last tracks I wrote for the record. It's probably the fastest track on the album and great fun to play live. It started out a lot longer and it was pretty difficult condensing two pages of lyrics down the the final version, but that is the good thing about working with a producer like William. He knows what is best for the song. There was one point in the recording where he asked if we just wanted to do it how it was written originally and thats really when we fully committed to making the best record we could, even if it meant changing things and condensing lyrics!
Lumi:
Lumi is like an extended introduction to Wintervention. I think a lot of people think this is a sad song, but really it is about hope.
Wintervention:
This track has been out in a slightly different form for a little while now, and people seem to like it so much that we didn't want to mess around with it too much. William says it has so many lyrics it makes him feel seasick. The whole song is a crescendo. It builds to the line 'You wont feel this way forever' which I think is a good thing to remember.
Good Things Come To Those Who Waste:
This song went through a lot of changes during the recording process. It started out as a pretty straight up punk rock song but by the time we were done it was something totally different. This track has a lot of space, and the call and response chorus juxtaposes quite nicely against the previous track Wintervention which barely has room for breath.
Elsinore:
Awkwardly named because we are pretentious. It's pronounced Eleanor. What I've learned and what I am always trying to get across is that no matter how bad things get just holding on is the key part. So this spells it out pretty clearly.
SOS:
This is a sad song. It's the first song I wrote on piano, which we all know is the saddest instrument. Except for maybe the cello. Which also features on the track. It is a sad song, but when we play it live I can sometimes see it helping people in the crowd, and that makes things better.
Ghost Frequency:
When I wrote this I knew it was going to close the album. William just helped us tweak the song so the rest of it was as good as the end! When he was mixing the album back home William stuck some harmonies on the tracks, but he also tracked a really low vocal line over the end of this song. None of us can work out what he is saying, so if you can, get in touch!
You can check out the band's Facebook page to keep up to date on all of the latest Ashestoangels news and music at www.facebook.com/ashestoangels