Ash Blue Gutierrez, better known under the stage name Glaive, released his first single of 2025. ‘Asheville’ hit streaming platforms on July 18th, with the track being the official lead single off Glaive’s upcoming album Y’all, which currently does not have a publicly announced release date.
[ 'Asheville' Single Cover ]
‘Asheville’ was initially teased back in February after the final show of the May It Never Falter North America Tour, and then again in April after Glaive’s benefit show ‘They Named The City After Me’ where he played the album front to back. Unlike some of Y’all’s other confirmed tracks (‘Foreigner’, ‘Modafil’, ‘We Don’t Leave The House’), ‘Asheville’ was not performed live on tour, meaning its streaming debut is the first time most fans and casual listeners will have heard the track.
In a way, ‘Asheville’ feels like Glaive’s ode to North Carolina. Unlike his wildly successful 2021 track ‘F*ck This Town’, which focuses on his teenage distaste for his home state, Glaive seems to have grown out of that angst, now having a more positive connotation with North Carolina as a whole, even going as far as to say “I've made my peace, I plant my feet too deep, not moving for nothin”.
Speaking on the single, Glaive shared, “At one point it [‘Asheville’] felt like a simple song about moving home, and upon reflection months later it felt quite angry and I’m not sure why. It encapsulates the feelings felt coming home. It is strangely confusing to try to make a place new that you have known for your entire life.” He gets this point across from the get-go, with the intro of the song being an interpolation of a military cadence that leads into the lyrics “I left my home, everyone was sweet, I went back, Partially 'cause of the love, partially 'cause of the tag.”
Production-wise, ‘Asheville’ was produced with the help of Jeff Hazin, Ralph Castelli, and John Cunningham, all of whom worked on Glaives' 2024 sophomore album, May It Never Falter. When listening, I found ‘Asheville’ to have a similar formatting to ‘Freudian’, as both tracks tend to switch up their beats every now and again, allowing for a unique listening experience. That being said, ‘Asheville’ leans a little more dance-esque than most of May It Never Falter, leaving me to wonder if the bulk of the upcoming album will carry a similar sound.
This release comes right after Glaive signed to 'Broke', an independent label based in New York. While this sparked some disappointment with fans as early last year, he returned to releasing music under ‘slowsilver03’, his own independent label/collective of sorts, Glaive makes it clear that slowsilver03 is not going anywhere. From mentions within the lyrics to Glaive sporting a number three jersey in the soccer-themed music video, it’s clear SS03 is alive, well, and ready to take over the summer.
STREAM ‘ASHEVILLE’ HERE.
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