By Ljubinko Zivkovic, Rock At Night Amsterdam
Review: ASHRR’s album Sunshine Low-Release date September 16, 2024
Sometimes it is easy to decipher an acronym or a moniker a band or an artist adopts, other times, it is not that easy.
It is the latter with Los Angeles trio ASHRR, yet listening to ’Sunshine Low,’ their latest album it doesn’t really matter as far as the music they come up with here.
Lead vocalist Steven Davis and producer-musician-vocalists Josh Charles and Ethan Allen come up with a set of modern pop that is all over the place – they mainly bring in electronic soul, post-punk, space disco and indie-dance with a seemingly dual purpose – to be so easy on the ear, and at a same time to have a danceable background, even if it is only for your fingers (on, say, your car wheel) or your toes (wherever).
As they note, ASHRR came together from varying backgrounds working in music. Josh started as a jazz pianist, mentored by the late Dr. John, before working in pop, rock, and country as a critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. Josh met Steven in Nashville, after both moved from NYC where Steven was headlining huge rooms singing big band standards as well as writing for film and TV. Then moving to LA, they were introduced to Ethan, a Grammy nominated engineer working with everyone from Ben Harper, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Mavis Staples. Setting out to simply create music they liked, they formed as ASHRR in 2018, quickly establishing a strong connection in the studio.
Talking about the album Charles says: “With this album we felt we were coming into the sunshine, making music that made people dance while exploring more of our roots in soul, funk, jazz, and our love of hip-hop, electronic, and experimental music”.
And it seems ASHRR reached their goal here with an amazing ease, combining both their experience and talent. Sometimes you just need music like this.
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