Album Review: Ashei - 'Music Is Boring'

From the moment Ashei’s ironically titled EP ‘Music is Boring’ opens, we’re hit immediately with a hard dose of pop-driven alternative rock prominently influenced by bands such as Taking Back Sunday and The Almost, but across the EP’s five songs, the four piece don’t allow themselves to be put into such a small box so easily.

One of the first thoughts you have when listening to opening track ‘Ready For The Morning’ is just how contrasting vocalist Emma Cameron’s vocal tone is to the music itself, but we are very quickly shown that, though at times, her voice can be soft and velvety smooth, at others she shows enough versatility to fit in perfectly with the rest of the band’s style.

Credit must also be given to lead guitarist Liam Muir. Muir has a lot to show off as a lead guitarist, consistently complementing the band’s rhythm section from start to finish through the EP. His work is more often than not, incredibly subtle, but incredibly important, in a way that the tracks would feel almost entirely empty without his input.

Ashei are at their best on the softer, more intricate moments of the EP (‘The Crash’, ‘Cracked & Torn’), where not only do we see the band branching out a bit more in what they can do, but we get to hear a particular highlight on Cameron’s fantastic vocal performance.

By no measure is ‘Music Is Boring’ perfect. In fact, there are moments on the EP where you can’t help but think that there was something the band could have done just to make things stand out a bit more. It does, however, show a group that is well and truly on the right track. Definitely worth a listen.

1. Ready For The Morning
2. Bright Eyes
3. The Crash
4. It's A Drag
5. Cracked And Torn