ASH share new double A-side single and announce UK instore shows
‘Which One Do You Want?‘ &
‘Fun People‘ (feat. Graham Coxon) out now
New album Ad Astra out October 3rd on Fierce Panda
UK and Ireland tour dates on sale now
Ash | Photo credit: Andy Willsher
Ash are today sharing new double A-side single ‘Which One Do You Want?’ / ‘Fun People’ (feat. Graham Coxon). They are the latest pair of songs to emerge from the band’s forthcoming album Ad Astra, which is set for release on October 3rd via Fierce Panda.
Occupying two differing ends of the Ash sonic spectrum, from swopping jangle-pop to towering riffs, these two new offerings find the perennial power-pop kings in curious and inventive form. It has also been confirmed that Graham Coxon – who lends both guitar and vocals to ‘Fun People’ and ‘Which One Do You Want?’ – will join the band on stage to perform the new tracks at The Scala on the 9th and 10th September.
Drummer Rick McMurray says: “‘Which One Do You Want?’ dates back to the New York days, making it the oldest song on the album by far. So what’s the deal; why has it taken so long to find a home? Listening to it in isolation, it’s the perfect pop song. It swoops, it soars, it sings of desire. But it didn’t fit with the last record, and it didn’t fit with what we thought at the time was the next record. I wouldn’t say it’s the reason why we paused for thought and decided to make a different record to the one we started out to make, but I reckon with hindsight, it could be seen as the hinge around which every album we release this decade rotates. It’s guitar pop for sure but it’s utterly unlike the guitar pop we’ve been known for, and it might just be a marker in the sand for where we’re going in the second half of the ’20s. Is that a lot of pressure for one song to bear? Maybe, but it straddles the two sides of this band we’ve been grappling with over the last decade and holds the past and future effortlessly in its orbit.”
Continuing about ‘Fun People’ (feat. Graham Coxon), he says: “It’s been a while since Tim came to us with the most bonkers riff and declared it to be a pop song but I’m very happy he did. Polyrhythmic chromatic riffs might be more the sort of thing you’d associate with Devo but somehow he’s managed to marry it with massive hooks. Big barbed hooks that sink their claws into the Fun People that magically appear in everyday life to make it hell. This ain’t your average Ash track. And what better way to underline that than to get guitar wizard Graham Coxon seething all over it? His unique sensibilities lend themselves so well to the angular er, angles of this song, as do his vocals. Sing along or scream along as the case may be with some fun people like YOOOOUUUUU!!!”
Pre-order new album Ad Astra HERE.
Hear ‘Which One Do You Want?’ on streaming services here.
Hear ‘Fun People’ (feat. Graham Coxon) on streaming services here.
Share the new singles via YouTube below.
More about new album Ad Astra
By focussing on the endless horizon of galaxies far, far away and staring into an endless black hole Ash have somehow ended up creating a cohesive whole.
There is absolutely classic Ash power-pop-rocking action with the blistering purity of ‘Hallion’, the crunchy chuggings of ‘Keep Dreaming’, the furious sonic lunges of ‘Dehumansied’. But you can’t fail to succumb to the glorious swooping jangles on ‘Which One Do You Want?’ – a whirl from Marr’s canon, for sure; ‘My Favourite Ghost’ is all acoustic elegance, floating on strings of desire; and ‘Fun People’ (feat Graham Coxon) is quite simply one of the maddest, punchiest songs they have ever recorded.
As if creating this lovingly optimistic opus wasn’t enough to be cracking on with, they’ve kept themselves busy elsewhere. Since ‘Race The Night’ raced out they’ve run riot at SXSW in Austin, played Belfast for Steve Lamacq at Independent Venue Week, toured Down Under, headlined the 100 Club for BRITs Week, and played a rammed Other Stage tent at Latitude.
Already in 2025 they’ve amassed the masses at Glastonbury for the eighth time – equalling the multi-performance record of Van Morrison – and toured the UK with The Darkness. In short, three decades into a career peppered with timeless indie-punk nuggets and wildly inventive gigging and releasing concepts, the thunderous threesome show no sign of slowing down. To infinity and beyond indeed. Or, as Rick McMurray gently muses…
“The title ‘Ad Astra’, the worst kept secret of the last month, points to ideas that became a big identifier back in 1995, but they’re updated with 30 years life experience. I’ll leave you to compare the differences, and with the thought that while the optimistic innocence of 1995 might have been tempered with 30 years of experience, if you look to the stars you might still feel a glimmer. Of hope.”
Ash – UK instores poster
Ash – Upcoming instore performances
Tickets are available here
3rd Oct – Resident, Brighton, UK – SOLD OUT
4th Oct – Rough Trade East, London, UK – SOLD OUT
5th Oct – 2FunkyCafe (Truck Outstore), Leicester, UK
7th Oct – Rough Trade, Nottingham, UK – SOLD OUT
8th Oct – Circuit (Banquet Outstore), Kingston, UK – SOLD OUT
9th Oct – Baltic Jacaranda, Liverpool, UK
10th Oct – Liquid Rooms (Assai Outstore), Edinburgh, UK
Ash – Upcoming live dates 2025
9th September – Scala, London, UK
10th September – Scala, London, UK
26th September – Visor Festival, Valencia, Spain
14th October – Zepp, Fukuoka, Japan
16th October – Zepp, Osaka, Japan
17th October – Zepp, Nagoya, Japan
20th October – Gigs, Sendai, Japan
21st October – KT Zepp, Yokohama, Japan
14th November – Shiiine On Weekender, Minehead, UK
15th November – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, UK
16th November – Sin City, Swansea, UK
18th November – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, UK
19th November – New Century Hall, Manchester, UK
20th November – SWG3 Galvanizers, Glasgow, UK
22nd November – Bootleg Social, Blackpool, UK
23rd November – The Foundry, Sheffield, UK
25th November – O2 Academy, Oxford, UK
5th December – Mike The Pies, Listowel, Ireland
6th December – Spirit Store, Dundalk, Ireland
7th December – Róisín Dubh, Galway, Ireland
9th December – Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland
10th December – Dolans Warehouse, Limerick, Ireland
11th December – The Academy, Dublin, Ireland
13th December – Ulster Hall, Belfast, UK
Ash – Upcoming live dates 2026
6th February – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells, UK
7th February – Junction, Cambridge, UK
8th February – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes, UK
10th February – Phoenix, Exeter, UK
11th February – The Trinity Centre, Bristol, UK
13th February – Grand Central Dome, Liverpool, UK
14th February – The Sugarmill, Stoke-On-Trent, UK
15th February – The Welly, Hull, UK
17th February – Epic Studios, Norwich, UK
18th February – Chinnerys, Southend, UK
19th February – O2 Academy, Birmingham, UK
Ash – Ad Astra album artwork | Download image here
Ash – Ad Astra album tracklisting
- Zarathustra
2. Which One Do You Want?
3. Fun People (feat. Graham Coxon)
4. Give Me Back My World
5. Hallion
6. Deadly Love
7. My Favourite Ghost
8. Jump In The Line
9. Keep Dreaming
10. Dehumanised
11. Ghosting
12. Ad Astra (feat Graham Coxon)