Ash – Ad Astra (Rocket Silver)

Ad Astra is Ash leaning hard into their gift for melodic immediacy while letting the arrangements swell into something brighter, faster, and more technicolour than anything on their earlier records. The album moves with a restless, sugar‑charged momentum—guitars fizzing with pop‑punk urgency, drums snapping with clean precision, and synth touches giving everything a faint sci‑fi shimmer. Tim Wheeler’s vocals ride that energy with a mix of youthful rush and emotional clarity, turning even the most hook‑driven moments into something with a bit of ache beneath the shine. What makes the record endure is its balance of exuberance and craft: every chorus lands big, every bridge feels carefully shaped, and the whole thing carries a sense of forward motion that never lets up. It’s Ash at full velocity, bright‑eyed, tuneful, and completely unashamed of how good a perfectly built pop‑rock song can feel.