Ashton Lane are Glasgow-bred husband and wife duo Tim and Esther O’Connor, who recently released their fourth studio album ‘Nashville Heart’. Produced by Graeme Duffin, Esther’s father and a guitarist known for his work as part of 90s rock band Wet Wet Wet, the record consists of 15 songs that were co-written by the duo during the past few years, often with the help of their fans. To make it, they reached out to their grassroots fan base and asked for them to share their stories. The songs on this record are what resulted from those conversations, and tell tales of love, heartbreak and the essence of life against an acoustic-driven country pop/rock sound.
Esther in particular has been touring for most of her life, having joined her dad on the road during the heyday of Wet Wet Wet, so she is very accustomed to performing and songwriting too. As Ashton Lane, the pair have toured the length of the UK and made regular trips to Nashville, so they have certainly paid their dues. The only thing I am surprised about is how I haven’t heard of them prior to this record, as although they are independent and largely flying under the radar, there have been three other albums that haven’t caught my attention. That speaks to a need to promote more heavily to the budding country music scene in the UK, as I’m sure they’d be appealing to a good proportion of listeners.
Esther takes the majority of lead vocals on the record, with Tim playing guitar and delivering harmonies, but he does jump to the forefront on tracks like the passionate ‘When We Were Young’, despite the fact that Esther is more prominent on the choruses. Although she does have the better voice, it would be nice to hear a bit more from Tim for variety, as his voice is decent enough to hold his own. Regardless, this is an enjoyable record with a few different flavors, from the guitar-heavy early 00’s pop song ‘Loving You Still’ to the early Taylor Swift-esque stripped-back ballad ‘One Night In California’. The melodies are fairly catchy throughout, taking proven pop and pop/rock structures from 10-15 years ago and giving them a gently twangy/acoustic base. The production is light and airy, giving a bit of a live feel even as it’s clear these are studio recordings.
However, while I do get the impression that they were not always specifically country-orientated, I don’t feel that they’re a pop duo trying to jump on the country bandwagon. It feels much more like an honest interpretation of country music coming from their pop background, rather than an inauthentic attempt to pass other music off as country, like some have done. Tracks like ‘Nashville Heart’ have an Irish/Celtic feel amidst it all, and ‘Looking Out For Number One’ especially is country to the core. Certainly there is an element of their Scottish heritage in there too; opening track ‘Seventeen’ draws from that influence and incorporates it with Dixie Chicks-style fiddle, and the same can be said for ‘One In A Million’.
‘Nashville Heart’ as an album is a pleasant listen, but I have couple of key issues with it. For one, whilst there are a few different arrangements and styles opted for, they’re all comparatively similar and even after a few listens the songs have a habit of merging into one another. Each lyric is proficient but nothing really stands out as incredibly original or interesting, so while I can enjoy it, I can’t get particularly excited about it. And the main problem: there are too many tracks. Even though the duo have clearly been going for a while, and they claim to have good traction on YouTube, I’m not sure how much market penetration they have outside their core fan base. That means that any new listener coming into the record is going to lose interest before the album is over, because there are too many tracks, and too many that sound similar. A big name like Miranda Lambert can get away with putting that many tracks on an album, but that’s because she’s a superstar. 10-12 tracks is much more appropriate for a band of this type, and it makes all the difference.
Overall this record is a nice listen, and there are some great and familiar melodies in there. But it’s not engaging enough to drum up a fervent new fan base, and could lag if not given the right promotion. My advice? Save this for a lazy, rainy day.
Originally posted here.
