Ash have announced that their forthcoming album, 'Twilight of the Innocents' is to be their final true studio album. In future, the band will only release new material in single tracks.

Frontman Tim Wheeler initially caused panic at last weekend's Isle of Wight Festival by announcing that it was to be the band's "final album" only for the band to later announce that what they had actually meant was that as far as they were concerned, the very concept of albums was dead in the water.

"When you're tied to the album format, you find yourself waiting six months between finishing a record and releasing it," said Wheeler. "By leaving this behind, we can record a track and release it the next day if we feel like it. We're the first band to do this, but I very much doubt we'll be the last."

Interestingly, the band share management with The Crimea - who recently offered their entire new album, 'Secrets of the Witching Hour', as a free download. Obviously for a band with such a pedigree in single-writing as Ash (Goldfinger, Girl From Mars, Burn Baby Burn, Shining Light, Clones, Orpheous but to name a few) this abandonment of albums could be workable - but would it work for less well known acts? Opportunity or calamity?