Dublin/London post-punk quartet Scattered Ashes are delighted to announce that their debut EP All That Is Solid Melts Into Air will be released on 14th June 2024.
To celebrate the news, the band are recently released lead single ‘Kingdom’, as they continue to expand their sound on this groundbreaking first taste of their new material. An exploration of sex, death and the idea of rebirth, ‘Kingdom’ draws its sonic palette from Massive Attack, Portishead and New Order utilising samples, synthesisers, and sequencers.
Commenting on the track, vocalist Rob Dalton says: “‘Kingdom’ is a reflection on the acute sense of loss felt at the end of an intense physical relationship and the possibility of rebirth in its aftermath. The track examines the sanctifying nature of intimacy and how we as humans find our purpose in its ultimate end.”
With his deft and poetic lyricism, Dalton uses powerful biblical imagery to enclose this sense of salvation—‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, is this the makings of heaven, a moment of trust’—and portrays the deep state of depression one finds in its wake: ‘Can’t get out of my bed, a slow death underrated, just leave me one in the head, low depth soul feels weightless.’
Recorded at Darklands Audio, Dublin in 2023, produced by Daniel Doherty (Fontaines D.C., Meryl Streek) and mastered by Pete Maher (Echo & The Bunnymen, Liam Gallagher), the EP’s title is taken from a Karl Marx quote: ‘All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.’
“Marx was referring to non-economic relationships and aspects of human life in the future, i.e. art, love, food, family, religious conviction or the pursuit of knowledge—in short, everything that gives us true meaning and fulfilment, and how it will be co-opted by endless expansion and exploitation. This is a future the band believes we are living in,” explains Dalton, a truism that few would dare to argue against.
All That is Solid Melts Into Air encompasses these themes and the constant state of flux we find ourselves in as members of modern society due to technology, consumerism, and the fickle nature of human beings. Across the EP the band reflect on the more destructive outcomes of these aspects such as racism, drug addiction, apathy, and greed—a prime example being ‘They Can’t Divide Us’, a track that was recorded during the chaos of the 2023 Dublin Riots, with the studio being located in the midst of the storm.
The EP also ruminates on the more positive aspects of the shared human experience such as intimacy, growth and self-redemption. “There was a lot of serendipity on this record and at times it felt like we were expelling a lot of demons,” says Dalton. “This record was special, the words and the music just flew out, it felt different.”
Fresh from a run of February 2024 UK tour dates supporting fellow Irish iconoclast Meryl Streek, the band currently have a select handful of UK and Irish live dates on sale now, with full listings available below and further live dates TBA.
Scattered Ashes Live Dates:
13 Apr // Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes, London
30 May // Whelan’s, Dublin
08 Jun // The Castle Tavern, Luton
19 Jul // Forest Fest, Laois
Tickets: https://linktr.ee/scatteredashes
Photo credit – EP artwork Mark Stubbs