Grey Will Fade
Grey Will Fade is the debut studio album by English musician Charlotte Hatherley, the guitarist for Ash, released by Double Dragon Music on 16 August 2004. Spurred on by the positive response to "Grey Will Fade", which appeared as a B-side to Ash's single "There's a Star" (2001), Hatherley set about recording her solo album. Enlisting the help of Eric Drew Feldman, the sessions for the album were happening concurrently in Los Angeles, California, at Wild Hamster, while Ash was recording their album "Meltdown" (2004). Described as a pop punk and power pop record , Hatherley's vocals on "Grey Will Fade" earned her comparisons to Björk, Tanya Donelly, and PJ Harvey. "Grey Will Fade" received generally favourable reviews from critics, some of whom commented positively on the songwriting. The album charted at number 48 in Scotland and number 51 in the UK. "Summer" and "Bastardo" both reached a peak of number 31 on the UK Singles Chart. Despite "Grey Will Fade" being announced in early 2004, Hatherley was occupied touring with Ash to support "Meltdown". The digital-only lead single, "Kim Wilde", was released on 7 June 2004, followed by the second single, "Summer , on 9 August 2004. While Ash took a break from touring, Hatherley went on her first solo tour in September 2004. Bastardo" was released as the third single on 21 February 2005; Edgar White directed the video for this and "Summer". Background and production. At age 15, Charlotte Hatherley became the guitarist of Nightnurse. Over the course of the next two years, she grew as a musician while performing on the club circuit. Around this time, Ash frontman Tim Wheeler was interested in bringing in another guitarist after witnessing the interplay between Weezer members Rivers Cuomo and Brian Bell. After  learning of this through mutual friends, Hatherley joined Ash at first temporarily. She performed on the band's non-album single "A Life Less Ordinary", released in October 1997. Hatherley's contributions impressed the band who made her an official member. Over the course of the next four years, Hatherley appeared on the band's second and third studio albums, "Nu-Clear Sounds" (1998) and "Free All Angels" (2001). She co-wrote three songs on the two albums and had sole writing credit for the B-sides "Taken Out" and "Gonna Do It Soon". "There's a Star", the  fifth single from "Free All Angels", featured Hatherley's "Grey Will Fade" as a B-side. Between October 2003 and January 2004, the band were recording "Meltdown" (2004) in Los Angeles, California. Spurred on by a positive reaction to "Grey Will Fade", Hatherley set about recording a solo album. Sessions were held at Wild Hamster in Los Angeles, with producer Eric Drew Feldman, while Rob Laufer handled recording. There were a few instances where Hatherley recorded with Ash during the mornings, only to spend the afternoons on the other side of Los Angeles recording her album. The sessions lasted for  a month; she attempted to create "XTC-style music with B-52's vocals". Laufer, Feldman, and Hatherley mixed the recordings before Mark Chalecki mastered the tracks at Capitol Mastering in Hollywood, California. Composition. Musically, the sound of "Grey Will Fade" has been described as pop punk and power pop, with Hatherley's vocals recalling elements of Tanya Donelly, PJ Harvey and Björk. Hatherley noted a contrast in its indie-based sound to her bandmates' heavy metal roots. She added that as "Meltdown" was "definitely more heavy metal", she made "something which was more the kind of music I love," citing  David Bowie, Kate Bush, and XTC. "Grey Will Fade" has sparse song arrangements, led predominantly by Hatherley's guitarwork. For the most part, Hatherley handles vocals, guitars, and bass, while Ellis played drums and Feldman the keyboards. Feldman played bass on "Down" and "Grey Will Fade"; Nick Vincent played drums on "Kim Wils" and "Bastardo"; Laufer and Hatherley added keyboards to "Where I'm Calling From"; Moris Tepper provided guitar for "Stop"; and Laufer sang backing vocals on "Why You Wanna?". The opening track, "Kim Wilde", name checks "Kids in America" (1981) and "Chequered Love" (1981) by Kim Wilde. The  song incorporates guitars in the vein of Blondie, Fleetwood Mac-esque vocal harmonies, and varying tempo changes. "Paragon" is reminiscent of Ash's earlier material; "Summer", which features handclaps and Jools Holland-esque piano work, sees the narrator wishing for their situation to improve. The Pixies-lite "Stop" uses metallic krautrock guitar parts. The acoustic and electronica track "Where I'm Calling From" shares a similar structure to "Space Oddity" (1969) by Bowie. "Bastardo" is the story of a Spanish man who steals a guitar, and was compared to the works of Kirsty MacColl. The closing track "Grey Will Fade  is an optimistic message to a friend who was struggling in school. Release. In March 2004, NME" reported that Hatherley's debut was scheduled for release later in the year. On 22 May 2004, "Grey Will Fade" was formally announced for release in August of that year. Between May and August 2004, Hatherley was occupied touring with Ash to support "Meltdown". "Kim Wilde" was released as a digital-only single on 7 June 2004. Hatherley explained she did not expect people to buy it physically, and to her surprise, the track had 8,000 downloads in its first week of release . "Summer" was released as a single on 9 August 2004; the CD version featured "Commodore" and "S.M.U.T" as extra tracks. The music video for "Summer" premiered on "NME" website on 14 July 2004. Double Dragon Music released "Grey Will Fade" on 16 August 2004. As Ash were taking a break from touring in September 2004, Hatherley embarked on her debut solo tour, playing a handful of UK shows. "Bastardo" was released as a single on 21 February 2005; the CD version featured "3 Minutes" and "I Am a Kamera" as extra tracks, while the DVD version included audio versions of  Bastardo and an acoustic version of "Kim Wilde", and videos for "Bastardo", and a making-of feature. "Grey Will Fade" was released in the United States on 4 April 2005. It was released in Japan in May 2005 in two editions: a CD with "3 Minutes" and "I Am a Kamera" as extra tracks, the other adding a bonus DVD with the music videos for "Summer" and "Bastardo". Edgar Wright directed both videos; "Summer" incorporated animation, while "Bastardo" featured appearances from Simon Pegg, Lucy Davis, and David Walliams. Reception. "Grey Will Fade" was met with generally favourable reviews from critics . "Rock Hard" writer Michael Rensen said Hatherley offered "creamy, surprisingly multi-layered songwriting that goes well beyond the catchy tune" of Ash. Séamus Leonard of RTÉ wrote Hatherley had done "a fine job" with the album, finding "Stop" to be the only misstep. "The Irish Times" Anna Carey wrote the majority of the album "doesn't quite live up" to "Kim Wilde", however, "it's still an excellent collection of choppy, poppy songs," full of "honey-sweet harmonies and buzzy guitars". "The Independent" music critic Andy Gill called it a "confident and engaging solo debut". The staff at the "Manchester  Evening News" saw the album as "[g]reat summer guitar pop with ["sic"], infectious lyrics and a charming, cheeky approach that suggests Hatherley can add yet another string to her ever-growing bow". AllMusic reviewer Alan Severa wrote that the record "sometimes trips up through a kind of over-enthusiasm, this album is indeed the debut of a rather maverick talent". Barry Nicolson of "NME" wrote the album was "hardly a radical departure," with Hatherley's vocals becoming "a little too bland and weedy". He added, it was a "minor triumph, then, and if it doesn't repeat the chart-straddling  success of the day job, put it down to lack of practice". "Drowned in Sound" Tom Edwards said Hatherley "does manage to impress in the tunes department". "The Guardian" music correspondent Caroline Sullivan wrote that the album "delves further into fluttery pop than the power-rocking Ash would deem acceptable". BBC Music writer Jack Smith said that the album was "firmly traditional and far from ... nothing here has the punch and sheer momentum of Ash's 'Burn Baby Burn. "Grey Will Fade" reached number 48 in Scotland, and number 51 in the UK. "Summer" and "Bastardo" both reached number 31  on the UK Singles Chart. Playlouder ranked "Grey Will Fade" at number nine on their list of the top 50 albums of 2004. "Kim Wilde" topped Playlouder's list of the top 50 singles of 2004, while "Bastardo" ranked at number 37 for the 2005 list. Track listing. All songs written by Charlotte Hatherley. Personnel. Personnel per booklet. Musicians Production and design