Some debut singles introduce a band but “Ashes” announces one. As the centrepiece of Clocktowers’ upcoming record Genesis (date TBC), the single captures everything that makes the Ohio duo of Tarek Puska and Dakota Logan a force worth paying attention to.
The first notes of “Ashes” creep in like a fuse being lit, and within moments the song kicks into full ignition. Guitars snarl and twist around a rhythm section that feels both tight and volatile, while the vocals ride the line between ragged force and exposed honesty. By locking into a thick groove one second before vaulting into a sharper and more unrestrained burst the next, the shifts make the track feel alive, unpredictable, and impossible to settle into.
The interplay of ferocity meeting fragility elevates the song further. Written in the wake of a decade-long marriage, the lyrics cut close, and vocalist Tarek delivers them with a conviction that feels unguarded and direct.. It’s this personal gravity behind the performance that makes the song click.
For this track, Clocktowers welcomed Jason Viebrooks (Heathen, Grip Inc., Exhorder) on bass and guitar, and drummer Todd J. Farler, whose playing injects an extra spark of tension and release. Their presence enhances but never overshadows and the song remains unmistakably the band’s own.
The accompanying video drives the point home with intimacy: Tarek sings the lyrics directly to his wife off-camera, collapsing any distance between subject and performance. It’s this refusal to separate the music from its story that makes “Ashes” land so powerfully.
With Genesis on the horizon, Clocktowers and “Ashes” is proof that their blend of old-school grit and modern intensity is as personal as it is electrifying.
