Double Vinyl LP

This 2016 release is The Kills’ follow-up to 2011’s critically lauded Blood Pressures. The album took five years to make, in part due to Jamie Hince’s five hand surgeries, which resulted in him having to re-learn how to play guitar with a permanently damaged finger. It was during Hince’s recuperation that he first started sketching out what would become the songs for the album. To shake up the writing process, Hince booked a solo trip on the infamous Trans-Siberian Express for inspiration while Alison Mosshart wrote some of the most affecting, poetically candid lyrics that she ever has, painting word pictures that mine the dangerous terrain between romantic obsession, prophecy and tough love. Where previous albums had an air of detachment and emotional austerity, underpinned by an uneasy self-awareness and unexpressed anger, the songs on Ash & Ice are more understated, less tempestuous and more affecting, exposing the kind of push-pull you feel when you find yourself in a complicated but all-consuming relationship.

Released: 6/3/16