Turning Into Something Else: Cheshire Days Signals a New Era for Ashley Ninelives

It’s been a minute since we last heard from Ashley Ninelives. Five years have come and gone since the release of their second record, Eagle Creek, an album that further expanded their trademark mix of ramshackle noise pop, electronica, and dance music that they first explored on Ninelives. It wasn’t a completely silent half-decade, with some singles here and some features there, but the wait was certainly palpable. It’s a wait that would be considered unthinkable to many in today’s volatile music scene, where the difference of a year could make or break an artist.

With the release of the much teased Cheshire Days, however, comes the answer of where that time has gone. This is the biggest evolution in Ashley’s sound yet, reducing the prevalence of guitar from the main driver of melody to just another tool in their sonic toolbox. To quote James Murphy: “I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables.” Ashley has largely abandoned the guitar pop that occupied the majority of their back catalog in favor of a more focused take on the world of electronic music. Cheshire Days dives deep into electronica, with elements of glitch pop, chillwave, indietronica, wonky, IDM, drum and bass, and even hyperpop coming together to dig out an eccentric and unique take on the genre.

“I used to be an animal but I am turning into something else” announces the first track on the album, signaling the metamorphosis that Ashley has undertaken. “Cheshire” wastes no time in sharing its intentions, dropping the listener straight into the world of Cheshire Days with a bright and bubbling electronic intro. The disorientating, ever-changing effects on the vocals are an element that is present throughout the whole record. Though the track is just under 2 minutes long, you’d be forgiven for thinking it's even shorter—not for lack of ideas, but for the dizzying, breakneck speed of the track. 

The following tracks “Card” and “Pulsar” continue in this dynamic direction, with the former contrasting spacious passages with sections where the mix explodes with color and effects. If you were to liken “Pulsar” to a feeling, it would best be described as slippery, gliding and bouncing along whilst leaving the listener struggling to grab a hold of anything before evolving into something else.

“Edge of Time” and “Dice” are the closest the record gets to the sound of Ashley’s previous record, with guitar returning to the forefront. The strange vocal tics and background a cappella, combined with the lo-fi texture and upbeat guitar line echo earlier A9L songs like "Comforter". It brings to mind the hypnagogia of artists like James Ferraro or Dean Blunt. And though only an interlude, “Dice” takes a simple guitar line and distorts it into something barely recognizable to serve as the undercurrent of the track.

“Inbox” is the least dense track on the album by far, and maybe my favorite. It removes the extensive layers and textures of the previous tracks to give way for something more personal. Touches of sampled horns throughout lead into what may be the clearest and most direct vocals on the whole record: 

“I've been in love so many times before, it's hard to tell / So if I fall in love again I won’t have the energy to drag myself all the way home with my tail between my legs”

Finally, the one-two punch of “Brighter Day” and “kittycat heartthrob” ends the album nicely. The former is the hardest track here: an energetic club banger that dives into the sounds of trance and acid, while the latter is a beautiful love song to close out the record on a hopeful note. The final quatrain leaves us with this bittersweet refrain: “The polar night is ending and the sun is poking through / I wanna be together at the end of the world with you / Maybe I'm predictable, I'm sure it's nothing new / I wanna be together at the end of the world with you”

It’s hard to overstate that Cheshire Days is a completely new world for Ashley Ninelives. It’s a record that expands expectations and hints at a brand new chapter in their artistic journey. Even though I’ve made my own comparisons, it’s hard to say they’re anything more than baseline similarities and hints of influence. Cheshire Days doesn’t really sound like any music I’ve heard before, at least not enough for me to feel comfortable saying definitively that it sounds like so-and-so. It’s taken its influences and carved out a nook completely to itself, clear of comparison—an album I’m sure that I’m going to be poring over and discussing for a long while.

Cheshire Days is available on streaming as well as on vinyl, CD, and cassette via Needlejuice Records.