Via SideLine, we've caught word of the departure of vocalist Yasmine "Yaz" Uhlin from Ashbury Heights. Initial reports of the band splitting up permanently proved to be premature (ignore the SideLine headline indicating otherwise), as remaining member Anders Hagström has swiftly recruited new vocalist, Kari Berg. For those of you who were as in the dark as us regarding the division of labour within AH, the spate of emotion-soaked posts on their MySpace blog indicates that Hagström was the primary composer within the initial duo. As far as what this means for a change in Ashbury Heights' sound, Hagström's being cheekily optimistic:"Vince Clarke left Depeche Mode and that turned out alright; Gini left Blutengel and Chris Pohl is still the master of nocturnal cheesiness; Human league once recruited not one, but two new female singers and that was sort of their defining moment."
Touche.
On a personal note, we at DIJ fucking love Ashbury Heights. They're one of a very short list of recent synthpop bands who aren't a flagrant embarrassment to their predecessors, and just about the one one which has been able to weld the contemporary dancefloor demands for oontz with classic pop songwriting. Take "Derrick Is A Strange Machine" as an example: dunno about you, but I'm much more up for a "Your new boyfriend's a creep but I'm not just saying that because we used to fuck" song than I am another round of vague metaphysical wankery from Ronan. Just about every track from AH's "Three Cheers For The Newlydeads" is perfect for both club and home enjoyment, and Alex and I have been dropping new cut "Morningstar In A Black Car" like mad in anticipation of their forthcoming sophomore LP "Take Cair Paramour". Here's hoping that Yaz's new project, Javelynn Fate, gives her the opportunity to explore new avenues, and that Ashbury Heights continues to flourish in its new incarnation.
Ashbury Heights, "Morningstar In A Black Car"
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment