Four years on from his explorative third full-length ‘Aquamarine,’ Londoner Ash Walker returned in June 2023 with an equally ambitious follow-up, 'Astronaut'. Alongside a plethora of award-winning collaborators and combining a dizzying array of sounds, ‘Astronaut’ hears Walker push his astral shower of rhythm and vibes to new heights. If 'Aquamarine’ was the take-off of his audial spaceship, ‘Astronaut’ is the cosmic voyage reaching terminal velocity; a rocket-powered masterclass spanning jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae. An avid record collector, Walker has DJed far and wide, from the infamous Royal Mail squat party to the canals of Venice, spinning vinyl in Brixton with The Specials to scattering dub across San Francisco and LA. His own production output is similarly exploratory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Inspired by a deep dive of sounds from artists including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, King Tubby, Bo Diddley, 4Hero, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Curtis Mayfield, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich; his first two albums, ‘Augmented 7th’ (2015) and ‘Echo Chamber’ (2016) gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Don Letts and Gideon Coe.
