Ash Share Previously Unreleased Song Bittersweet Blue From 30th Anniversary Edition Of '1977'
Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Roger Sargent
Ash have shared a never-before-heard song, Bittersweet Blue.
Written before their 1996 recording sessions for their debut album '1977' at the iconic Rockfield Studios in Wales, the track taps into the Northern Irish power-pop trio's melodic, guitar-driven sound while capturing their youthful energy.
The song was eventually left off the album in favour of other songs. However, it became a favourite among the band, who even started playing it live before the lyrics were finished. Drummer Rick McMurray commented:
"After we began to play 'Bittersweet Blue' live, it was probably the best part of 20 years before that song was mentioned again, when our back catalogue moved to a new home to be digitised. That's when we discovered there were some missing master tapes!
"Fast forward a decade and as we prepared to put together the soon to be released 30th anniversary package, our resident super sleuth, detective Wheeler, resolved the ancient mystery, discovering it had been mislabelled way back when.
"However this was far from the end of the saga because what we had was a usable drum take, bass, some rhythm guitars, a scratchy vocal and not much else. Not even lyrics.
"What was to be done? Well we asked the impossible and Tim delivered, getting in touch with his teenage self, writing lyrics and resurrecting this long lost treasure for your listening pleasure.
"And if that's not enough sonic time travelling we have visuals to match. It made perfect sense with all of the above going into this for us to shoot the video back in the rehearsal space in the band's formative years. It's where we played the song for the first time all those years ago. And it means so much to have this space immortalised for all time.
"Thirty years in the making; this is Bittersweet Blue. We think it's turned out pretty damn good. Hope the wait's been worth it!"
The song will appear on the upcoming 30th anniversary edition of '1977', due out on October 16 via BMG. Head here for more details.
Ash will embark on a world tour celebrating '1977' this month, with shows lined up across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the UK and Ireland. Ahead of their UK and European dates, they'll celebrate the reissue with a handful of intimate performances in Kingston, Wrexham, Liverpool, Lancaster, Carlisle and Edinburgh between October 14 and 20.
Ash Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Tue November 10 2026 - UTRECHT De Helling (Netherlands)
Wed November 11 2026 - COLOGNE Gebaude 9 (Germany)
Thu November 12 2026 - BERLIN Hole44 (Germany)
Sun November 15 2026 - EINDHOVEN Effenaar (Netherlands)
Wed November 25 2026 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
Thu November 26 2026 - BRISTOL Electric Bristol
Sat November 28 2026 - LIMERICK Dolans
Sun November 29 2026 - CORK Cyprus Avenue
Tue December 01 2026 - TORQUAY Arena
Wed December 02 2026 - SOUTHAMPTON O2 Guildhall
Fri December 04 2026 - CARDIFF Tramshed
Sat December 05 2026 - NORWICH UEA
Sun December 06 2026 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Tue December 08 2026 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Wed December 09 2026 - DUBLIN 3Olympia Theatre
Thu December 10 2026 - BELFAST Ulster Hall
Sat December 12 2026 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Newcastle Northumbria University SU
Sun December 13 2026 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Tue December 15 2026 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
Wed December 16 2026 - LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds
Thu December 17 2026 - LONDON Roundhouse
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