New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Liverpool-based Ambient-Electro Classical Producer Tom Ashbrook released his new EP Sines on 29 November via The Other Songs. The EP includes 'Not My Love (with Ruby Duff)' which features a collaboration with "the Alice in
Wonderland of contemporary music" Ruby Duff who has seen support from NPR,
Wonderland Magazine, The Daily Mirror, When The Horn Blows and BBC Introducing in West Yorkshire. The Leeds-based songstress was invited to play the renowned Ruby Sessions, the same showcase attended by major acts such as Ed Sheeran, Mumford & Sons,
George Ezra, and
James Blunt.
This is the first collaboration between the two artists, coincidently both hailing from Yorkshire.
Speaking of their collaboration Ruby says: "The track is about acceptance and understanding there is a silver lining and a light at the end of the tunnel. The melody had been in my head for a really long time and I eventually voice noted it on my phone which is what I sent Tom. When I sing this song, I envision a small music box doll-like figure stood in a huge 60's theatre singing to an audience of masked men. It's the bitter sweet reveal of an ending"
Mastered by Mike Cave (Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, The Charlatans), Ashbrook's Sines has been well received. He has already seen support from CLASH Magazine,
Music Week, Son of Marketing and Vents Mag. Ashbrook has toured extensively throughout his life and has shared the stage with Simply Red's Mick Hucknell at the Royal Albert Hall, played alongside
Jools Holland as a session musician, and composed for the prestigious Matthew Bourne Dance Company. In addition, he worked alongside Sir
Paul McCartney and 6ix Toys composing the anthem for Liverpool's 2008 award as European Capital of Culture city and toured with well known
Pink Floyd Tribute band, Brit Floyd.
Citing influence from the likes of John Williams, Pat Metheny, and Mike Oldfield, Ashbrook draws inspiration from these sonic visionaries while still maintaining his own idiosyncratic sound. Comparable to acts such as Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm, Ashbrook has always had a gift for drawing out emotions and meanings through melodies.
Sines EP is a collection of work influenced by past memories and experiences, creating harmony and melodies with upright piano, analogue synthesisers, vocal harmonies and strings. The EP is centred around the elements; water, air, earth and fire, with Ruby Duff metaphorically making up the fifth element. The collaboration on 'Not My Love' came about through a vocal recorded on her phone, which she sent to Tom, who built the incredible instrumentation around it.
Tom Ashbrook explains: "'Sines' is a collection of pieces all outlining a turning point for myself and how we are all on a path that gets pulled and changed by different emotions and subconscious signs along the way. The relic design helps solidify those emotions and how they can be represented in an actual element or form.
Opening track on the EP 'Too Soon' reminds us that beauty can be deadly, metaphorically speaking of water in a perfect passage of pensive piano. '2five1one' marks a conversation between a lost loved one, and deliberates whether we would be different if they were still here. On 'Sines' we see vocal loops layered with electronic intricacies and acoustic piano, a cry for inner peace, while 'Only We Know' speaks of the trials and tribulations between two people.
Sines EP Tracklist
1. Too Soon
2. 2five1one
3. Sines
4. Only We Know
5. Not My Love (with Ruby Duff)
