5 Seconds of Summer drummer Ashton Irwin has unveiled his second solo album, ‘Blood on the Drums’.
Released on July 17, the LP – a follow-up to 2020’s ‘Superbloom’ – is produced by the pop rock group’s collaborators, John Feldmann and Matthew Pauling.
The 80s-tinged lead single, ‘Straight To Your Heart’, is out now, and accompanied by a video by Ryan Fleming and co-directed by Ashton.
The 29-year-old musician passed his motorcycle licence test and learned archery for the Californian desert promo.
The record is set to be released in two halves, with ‘The Thorns’, comprising the first eight tracks including lead single ‘Straight To Your Heart’, dropping on June 12, followed by ‘The Roses’, which will be available on July 17.
Ashton said: “I love to make full length albums but also the idea of the listener digesting it in two parts initially, forming their own interpretation. It’s important to me as a fan of music to have a comprehensive body of work to fully dig into the artists perspective.”
The album’s title is “a metaphor for how much I’ve given my music.”
A press release added: “The new album is a forward-thinking collection of songs that combines infectious 80s-tinged anthems, barbed rock bangers, dubby art-pop and more. Unlike Superbloom, crafted during the pandemic and full of personal reflection and poignant contemplation, Blood on the Drums looks more outward than inward. Weaving through the highs and lows of Irwin’s life over the past decade and emerging with songs built to connect on a mass scale, where universal themes are wrapped around personal tales.”
Ashton expanded: “I was thinking about the people I left behind the people I miss, the family that I had to leave when I was young. Thinking about the addictions I’ve been through. The way I evolved as a young man who never had a father. Thinking about my personal strength and knowing that generally speaking no one else has my back but me and becoming someone that I have to be for the rest of my life.”
Meanwhile, the ‘Youngblood’ sticksman is set to play a one-off concert in Los Angeles at the Belasco on July 18, where fans can hear the album’s tracks performed live.
Tickets go on-sale this Friday (07.06.24).
‘Blood on the Drums’ tracklisting:
‘The Thorns’ (EP available June 12):
1. ‘Straight To Your Heart’
2. ‘Breakup’
3. ‘BLOOD ON THE DRUMS’
4. ‘I See The Angels’
5. ‘Lose You’
6. ‘Rebel at Heart’
7. ‘Last Night Of My Life’
8. ‘Indestructible’
‘The Roses’ (available July 17 to complete the album)
1. ‘The Canyon’
2. ‘California Holds Her Breath’
3. ‘Little Spark’
4. ‘Wicked Habit’
5. ‘Marry You’
6. ‘Glory Days’
7. ‘Wild Things’
8. ‘Endless Wave’
Photo (c) Ryan Fleming