The album, recorded over the course of six years, contains sonically compelling, powerfully melodic music with mixing and engineering duties held by Robert Adam Stevenson,
This new project, enigmatically named Ashes and Diamonds, finds these three artists drawing upon their years of service to rock ‘n’ roll to create an album that, even in these increasingly cynical heard-it-all times, feels both fresh and unique. A twelve-track album, forged in the fires of the COVID lockdowns, is titled Are Forever which is an impressive ensemble piece that consistently surprises the listener and why not the die-haed fan.
The album openes with "Hollywood" a hardly pleasant picture of Ash titular neighbourhood. With Daniel’s haunting vocals and a subtle, somnolent beat, it’s a remarkable opening to the album, drawing on trip hop, gothic rock, and post-rock to deliver a textured, evocative piece of music that draws the listener into the heart of Ashes And Diamond’s eerie, haunted world. follow up "Teenage Robots" takes a starker, more electronic approach, you can hear certain influences by Depeche Mode and Sisters of Mercy, it’s got a sleazy pulse to it that is impossible to ignore.
With the hard "On A Rocka," you can hear a certain Marilyn Manson aura, it throws elements of glam into the industrial grinder, as Daniel adds layer upon layer of guitar into the mix. In contrast, "On" whispers disconcertingly in your ear as industrial pulses fly through the mix, once again tapping into the night-time world of the Sisters of Mercy. "Boy Or Girl" one of the highlights of the album is a huge, goth-disco anthem with a Bowie undercurrent, it finds ethereal, crooning vocals nailed down hard by Bruce Smith's relentless beat. Slowing the pace "The A Listers"returns to the world of Depeche Mode circa Songs Of Faith And Devotion as Daniel moans that he's mixing business with pleasure over Paul Spencer Denman's skeletal bassline.
The upbeat "Plastic Fantastic", which, with its acoustic guitar and tremolo laden flourishes sounds like a cross between Bowie and Pulp. Somewhat more schizophrenic is "Setting Yourself Up For Love." A monochrome track initially built around a heavy industrial bassline, it suddenly leaps into multi-coloured life with a glam-infused chorus that comes out of nowhere. Another highlight is "Alien Love" which finds shards of guitar raining down in a mixture of Bowie with NIN, up next "Champagne Charlie" is a curios track with a delicious jazz-infused sax finale, and finally, the haunted and lost in a heart-broken post-punk world, "2020" captures the isolation of that dark year, the slow pace creating the necessary space for Daniel’s heavily processed guitar to bring the track to a cathartic climax.
A prefectly crafted and arranged album, a genuine record that impressed since the beginning 'til the end with a haunting and magnificent finished, no doubt cause this is the work of a truly band with real music genius or veterans that come from the 1980s, and one of the most refreshing albums of the year.
Are Forever Track List:
