Ash & Eric release the final single before their debut album drops on Friday 6th May 2022. In actual fact, it will be the married couple’s third album as they have two previous releases under the name The Promise is Hope, but this will be their first record under their own names. We’re pleased to premiere the title track, ‘Sure’, which demonstrates the warmth of their gorgeously harmonising vocals over haunting cello as well as their gently engaging and beautifully melodic 1960s folk-vibe. The pair met onstage in a church and soon became romantically involved. Like all of us, Ash and Eric L’Esperance experience the strains and pressures of everyday married life. However, the pandemic presented a particular challenge due to the halting of live music and the subsequent loss of income for musicians like them. Through all these trials, and others over the years, Ash and Eric have become increasingly ‘sure’ that their relationship is strong and right. It’s that sense of loving certainty that is the foundation of this song.
The video begins intriguingly, with the couple asleep and Eric dreaming, represented through disturbing black and white images of them in a rural setting with their faces covered so that they cannot see one another. Unable to sleep, they then talk and dance through the night, taking joy in one another’s company. It’s a well-filmed, artistically-directed accompaniment to the song and it really reinforces the direct message of love and affection that is conveyed by their thoughtful, sensitive lyrics: “Our love is a theory tested and tried // The scientists all said the numbers weren’t right // And we all believed and the church even paid them // To tell us the Earth wasn’t round // But darling I’m sure as the seed // That grew in the apple that fell from the tree // Yes, I’m sure, sure as gravity // You know I’m sure, sure as I’ll ever be.”
‘Sure’ is a sensitive song of enduring love in the face of adversity and it’s as uplifting as it is sonically rich. Enjoy.