All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Even if Jack’s day job is writing songs for One Direction, Maroon 5, Benny Blanco, Little Mix, Rudimental, Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris, Shawn Mendes, Leon Bridges, 5SOS and BTS. Those are just some of the artists who have cut tunes by the members of the supergroup of songwriters known as ASL (Age.Sex.Location). Every now and then, when they’re not penning hits and others, they get together and make an EP on their own and on the fly, writing and recording everything in three days. Their latest release Skyloft sounds like it in the best possible way. These eight pop, rock, hip-hop and R&B-melding cuts sound uniformly fresh, vibrant and playfully freewheeling, with colourful arrangements and inspired instrumentation that never sound fussy or overthought — but never fail to sound cooler than most of the work they create at their day jobs. John Ryan (One Direction, Maroon 5, Benny Blanco) and Shungudzo (Little Mix, Rudimental) and supported by a revolving set of close friends and collaborators including Julian Bunetta (Thomas Rhett, Niall Horan, Maren Morris, Harry Styles) , Teddy Geiger (Shawn Mendes, Leon Bridges, 5SOS), AFTERHRS (Alesso, Gryffin, Liam Payne), Liza Owen (BTS) and others.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “ASL (Age.Sex.Location) is an L.A.-based collective featuring some of the most prominent songwriters in pop. ASL makes music that’s spontaneous but considered, hyper-inventive but instantly magnetic. With their shared songwriting credits including an array of the biggest hits by some of today’s top artists, ASL brings each of their EPs to life by holing up in a setting selected for its distinct mood and atmosphere — then writing and recording the entire collection of songs within a 72-hour free-for-all. ASL is fronted by John Ryan and Shungudzo and supported by a revolving set of close friends and collaborators including Julian Bunetta, Liza Owen, Teddy Geiger and AFTERHRS (a production duo consisting of Andrew Haas and Ian Franzino).”
