Ashes to Ashes

"Ashes to Ashes" is the lead single taken from MIDNIGHT's upcoming third studio album Riot Grrrl and was released on February 11, 2013 in the UK. The song sees MIDNIGHT take a dramatic turn in direction sonically for the song, going for a more noise pop inspired sound. The song became MIDNIGHT's eighth consecutive number one single.

Reception
The single received positive reviews among critics and other musicians, being labelled as "heartbreaking" and "gloomy" due to the song's lyrical nature.

Music video
The music video to "Ashes to Ashes" premiered on MIDNIGHT's official VEVO on February 2, 2013.

The video opens in black and white, with a clearly heartbroken MIDNIGHT walking down a lengthy hall that never seems to end. Donning a long, flowing black dress with her hair down, she slowly walks forward whilst singing the opening verse, tears rolling down her cheeks as her head is just slightly facing down to the floor, the camera moving to a close-up every so often to highlight her facial expressions. TV static cuts into the footage from time to time, giving a vintage, low-quality feel to the music video. During the pre-chorus, MIDNIGHT suddenly has a flashback to a past moment of her and her lover. Set in the 50s, MIDNIGHT has her hair up with a vintage housewife dress on. Still in black and white, her lover walks in through the door and hands her a rose which she smiles at, the rose a bright shade of red which is the only thing we see in colour for the scene. For the chorus, the hallway scene is back and MIDNIGHT seems to have a lot more power in her walk, clearly angry and hurt over her loss. As she walks and sings the lyrics, she passes old picture frames and glass vases with flowers in, which she angrily smashes between the narrow walls between her. She steps over the smashed pieces of glass with her heels, her eyes still watery. Back to another memory scene for the second verse and pre-chorus, we assume MIDNIGHT has only just recently lost her lover. Setting the scene, the camera shows a bedroom with cigarette ash, clothes and table lamps on the floor, the only thing perfectly in place is a framed picture of her lover on the bedside table. Next to that, is an empty bottle of pills. We now see MIDNIGHT curled up on the bed as she suddenly throws her handful of pills against the wall, before putting her head face-first into a pillow. After she pulls away, the pillow has notable black stains on it from her mascara, running down her cheeks too. Coming back to the chorus for the second time, the walls are seen closing in slightly on MIDNIGHT as she begins to run down the hall. She passes large pictures of her and her lover framed on the wall as she does so, placing her hands either side of her to try and push the walls away to stop them from closing in on her. At this stage, her hair is seen messy, the bottom of her dress torn. We see a cut on MIDNIGHT's now exposed leg from her ripped dress, the blood that seeps out once again the only thing in colour. MIDNIGHT is now seen in a beautiful white wedding dress, before a close-up on her face is shown as she smiles, a single tear escaping from her eye. She turns her head to look behind her, the church is empty. She holds her hand up to show the wedding ring on her finger, smiling once more. After lowering her hand, she lifts her dress slightly with her hands and proceeds to run out of the church and into a white cadillac with a 'Just Married' sign on the back of it. She gets into the car and begins to drive, the camera staying still while she drives off into the distance. For the final chorus, MIDNIGHT is back in the hallway, her hair and dress perfect like they were at the start of the video. The walls are wide apart and she walks elegantly with a calm, peaceful look on her face whilst singing the lyrics. She pauses for a moment and smiles at something in front of her, before the camera turns around to show her lover dressed in all white. He takes her hand and they begin to walk off into a bright light.

Live performances

 * Happy New Year 2012
 * Evening Urgant

Track listings

 * Promo CD
 * 1) "Ashes to Ashes" (Radio Edit)


 * CD1
 * 1) "Ashes to Ashes"
 * 2) "Ashes to Ashes" (Extended Edit)
 * 3) "Animalistic"


 * CD2
 * 1) "Ashes to Ashes"
 * 2) "Ashes to Ashes" (Instrumental)
 * 3) "Ashes to Ashes" (Acoustic)


 * Remix EP
 * 1) "Ashes to Ashes" (Extended Edit)
 * 2) "Ashes to Ashes" (Stuart Price Remix)
 * 3) "Ashes to Ashes" (Diplo Remix)
 * 4) "Ashes to Ashes" (T.Williams Remix)
 * 5) "Ashes to Ashes" (Dave Audé Remix)
 * 6) "Ashes to Ashes" (Röyksopp Remix)
 * 7) "Ashes to Ashes" (Aylen Remix)


 * Vinyl
 * 1) "Ashes to Ashes"
 * 2) "Animalistic"