Race the Night is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish rock band Ash, released on 15 September 2023 through Fierce Panda Records. It was produced by Tim Wheeler and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Race the Night received a score of 69 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on four critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[2]Uncut stated that "the teenage tyrants of 'Girls From Mars' fame may now be chasing the tail-end of their forties, but they've lost little of that youthful vigour",[9] and Classic Rock wrote that "Ash still put out heart and reliable joy".[2] Alice Clark of Louder found it to be "full of all the elements that have served them well since their formation back in 1992: crunching guitars, super-charged riffs, gorgeous pop smarts and lyrics for the most part that rejoice in being in a band and lost in music".[6]
Kerrang!'s James Hickie called the album a "sleeker and more adaptable vehicle" on which "there are heavy moments [...] but they differ wildly in their approach", concluding that Race the Night "deftly hit[s] all of the touchpoints that make Ash such a special band".[5]Louder Than War's Wayne Carey summarised Race the Night as "a heady collection of anthems [that] proves they still have it after 30 years of nuclear sound", calling it "an album of the year".[7]
Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times opined that Ash have "stuck to the bones of the punchy blueprint with which we are familiar" and on some songs they "flesh it out even further with exceptional results".[1] John Walshe of Hot Press wrote that the "trio still know their way around a catchy hook" and "there's something wonderfully reassuring about the fact that 27 years after their debut album, Ash still sound like pissed-up teenagers crashing the party, and having an absolute blast".[4]
John Murphy of MusicOMH described it as "11 tracks of pacey, fuzzy guitar rock (with the odd ballad thrown in) but, sadly, the tunes aren't as memorable as of yore" and "weirdly dated".[8] Thomas H Green of The Arts Desk called it Ash's "most heavy rock since 2004's Meltdown" and "the best of it is an enjoyable romp[,] which is not to say that it's all loveable. Their trademark power pop harmonies are in place, but sometimes there's a polish to the production that recalls a poppier Bring Me the Horizon" that is "not appealing".[3]
