October 4, 2006 10:00

Ash's new album nearly complete

The band shed light on their fifth record

Ash have nearly finished recording their new album, and hope to release it next spring.

The band, reduced to a three-piece for the first time since 1997 following the departure of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, are currently recording in New York.

In an interview posted on the band’s official website, frontman Tim Wheeler said: “We’ve done 13 [songs]. There’s just a couple more to do and a couple that we’re going to redo.

“We’ve been flying through stuff – averaging a song a day, or a day and a half.”

Wheeler refused to disclose their ideas for the album title, but did reveal a new direction for one of the tracks.

“There’s a song called 'Saskia' which we wanted to have a cold Eastern European kind of feel. So we were listening to a lot of the Bowie records that he did with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti.”

Wheeler also explained how the band managed as a three-piece at a recent comeback gig.

"I wasn’t worried about the older songs, but there were a couple of recent ones that we weren’t sure about. The stuff off 'Meltdown' sounds really cool as a three-piece – it has that extra space."

The band have been spending around 12 hours a day in the studio, and hope to release the album next May.