Northern Ireland’s enduring power-pop trio Ash have announced their hotly anticipated ninth studio album, Ad Astra, set for release on 3rd Octobervia Fierce Panda Records. Arriving just over two years after 2023’s Race The Night—their highest-charting album in two decades—Ad Astra promises a supercharged return to form, packed with punchy new tracks and some cosmic guest appearances. Leading the charge is the blistering new single Give Me Back My World, a propulsive anthem reflecting themes of disruption and recovery, first sparked during the global upheaval of 2020.
Ash @ Wembley Arena
“If I told you this song dates back to 2020 you’d hardly need a degree from the school of Marple, Holmes and Poirot to figure out what it’s getting at,” frontman Tim Wheeler explains. “In a time of chaos, disruption and angst, there’s still a beautiful world out there and it’s worth fighting for.”
The track delivers exactly what fans have come to expect from Ash—razor-sharp melodies, cathartic lyrics, and an energy level set firmly to blaze. Wheeler adds: “Everything you took for granted goes up in smoke… you can only look back in hindsight at a life that’s no longer yours. But this song rails against that loss—and is a total banger.”
The album’s title, Ad Astra, Latin for “to the stars,” nods to both the band’s sci-fi sensibilities and the expansive sonic ambition of their new material. While unmistakably Ash, the record pushes boundaries with blistering tracks like Hallion, the string-accented acoustic ballad My Favourite Ghost, and the chaotic brilliance of Fun People, which features Blur’s Graham Coxon—one of two tracks he guests on.
As ever, Ash balance melody and mayhem. There’s crunching guitars, spacey textures, and moments of introspective beauty, all wrapped in the infectious, three-minute bursts they’ve mastered across a 30-year career. “While the optimistic innocence of 1995 might have been tempered with 30 years of experience,” says drummer Rick McMurray, “if you look to the stars, you might still feel a glimmer. Of hope.”
Ash @ Wembley Arena
The record also includes a raucous cover of Jump In The Line, a Harry Belafonte calypso classic familiar to fans of Beetlejuice, proving that Ash’s playfulness remains firmly intact. The new album arrives just 25 months after Race The Night—a remarkably quick turnaround, and a direct reaction to the five-year recording hiatus between 2018’s Islands and that 2023 release.
Since then, Ash have hardly paused for breath. They’ve toured extensively across the globe, lit up the tent at Latitude Festival, played their eighth Glastonbury, and toured the UK with The Darkness. Now, with Ad Astra, they’re launching into yet another creative orbit.
Ash will support Ad Astra with an extensive live run across the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Japan—culminating in a packed winter tour. Highlights include Scala in London (two nights), a return to Ulster Hall in Belfast, and a fresh UK circuit in early 2026. The band also hit major festivals, including Victorious Festival and Sonorama in Spain.
Ash @ Wembley Arena
Upcoming UK & Ireland Tour Dates:
AUGUST
2nd – Audley End House, Essex (with Manic Street Preachers)
9th – Custom House Square, Belfast (with The Darkness)
22nd – Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
23rd – Live at Scorrier House, Redruth (supporting Richard Ashcroft)
SEPTEMBER
9th – Scala, London
10th – Scala, London
NOVEMBER
14th – Shiiine On Weekender, Minehead
16th – Sin City, Swansea
18th – Boiler Shop, Newcastle
19th – New Century Hall, Manchester
20th – SWG3 Galvanizers, Glasgow
22nd – Bootleg Social, Blackpool
23rd – The Foundry, Sheffield
25th – O2 Academy, Oxford
DECEMBER
5th – Mike The Pies, Listowel, Ireland
6th – Spirit Store, Dundalk, Ireland
7th – Róisín Dubh, Galway, Ireland
9th – Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland
10th – Dolans Warehouse, Limerick, Ireland
11th – The Academy, Dublin, Ireland
13th – Ulster Hall, Belfast
FEBRUARY 2026
6th – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells
7th – Junction, Cambridge
8th – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes
10th – Phoenix, Exeter
11th – The Trinity Centre, Bristol
13th – Grand Central Dome, Liverpool
14th – The Sugarmill, Stoke-On-Trent
15th – The Welly, Hull
17th – Epic Studios, Norwich
19th – O2 Academy, Birmingham
Ash Share Their Raucous Take On Harry Belafonte Classic ‘Jump In The Line’
Share Thing