Ash to release 26 new singles in a year

Ash are offering a new song as a free download before beginning a year-long run of 26 single releases.

'Return Of White Rabbit' is available to download from the band's official website, Ash-official.com.

The download is a 'prequel' for the Irish band's newly-launched 'A-Z Series', which will see them release 26 singles, one each fortnight, over the next 12 months, due to begin in September.

The series will kick off with the release of 'True Love 1980' later in the year.

"We wanted to be the first people to do it like this," frontman Tim Wheeler said of the scheme. "This is a time when you can try new ideas and it can work."

The move comes after Ash's 2007 announcement that they wouldn't release any more conventional albums.

Wheeler added that he hoped fans would get into the spirit of the 'A-Z Series', which will see singles released every two weeks digitally, on vinyl and on CD.

"There's a great Andy Warhol quote about how waiting for something makes it more exciting," he said. "I think it'll be great for our fans waiting every two weeks knowing they're going to get a song and wondering what it'll be like. It'll be fun."

To read more about Ash's 'A-Z Series', including the full interview with Wheeler, see this week's issue of NME, out nationwide today (May 20).