Hailing from Sydney, Australia and globally recognised as the drummer in pop-rock quartet 5 Seconds of Summer, Ashton Irwin, has a new album, BLOOD ON THE DRUMS. A forward-thinking collection of songs that takes in infectious 80s-tinged anthems, barbed rock bangers, dubby art-pop and more.
BLOOD ON THE DRUMS is the follow-up to his 2020 solo debut Superbloom, Made during the pandemic, it was musical art steeped in personal reflection and poignant contemplation. With BLOOD ON THE DRUMS, Ash has crafted a much more outward-facing body of work, one that weaves through the highs and lows of his life over the past decade and emerges with songs built to connect on a mass scale, where universal themes are wrapped around personal tales.
The album writing began with Superbloom producer and long-time collaborator Matthew Pauling before Irwin returned from a trip to Australia at the beginning of the year and teamed up with an old friend and producer John Feldmann. John helped hone Irwin’s vision of a record that mixed rock dynamism and slick contemporary pop production as the singer found himself channelling a handful of 80s solo superstars, who deliver yearning emotion on the grandest scale.
It's an album that captures Irwin in his element, caught in the thrill of the moment, doing his best to keep up with the ideas his brain keeps firing out.
BLOOD ON THE DRUMS is the sound of Ashton Irwin.
