Tim Wheeler has explained his 'last track from our last album' remark at the Isle of Wight. While there are to be no more Ash records, there will be more Ash tunes:
"The way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks. It hasn't helped that most people have forgotten how to make a decent album. I'm constantly disappointed with records I buy.
"I believe our new album is the pinnacle of everything we've done thus far, and I'm proud that this will be remembered as our last album. The future lies elsewhere and we can have a lot of fun by changing things up. It's like the Wild West at the moment and a time to take chances and try out new ideas."
"When you're tied to the album format, you find yourself waiting six months between finishing a record and releasing it.
“By leaving this behind we can enter a new phase of spontaneity and creativity. We have our own studio in New York, we can record a track and release it the next day if we feel like it, give it to people while it's fresh. We're the first band to do this, but I very much doubt we'll be the last."
The first band to release all their stuff digitally apart, of course, from the thousands of unsigned bands who have no choice but to work that way.
We're not entirely sure that the music industry - even the music industry online - is like the "wild west", although clearly the RIAA sees it as some Dodge City free-for-all in need of a sheriff. We'd have thought a better metaphor would be post-Communist Russia, where there are some rules, it's just that not everyone cares about them and we're still some way from knowing how they'll be effectively policed once the grab for assets is over. But who can blame Tim Wheeler if he would rather be compared to John Wayne than Vlad Putin.
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