With new album ‘Ash & Ice’ five years in the making, The Kills have been through a lot of changes during the intervening years. Not least of which was guitarist Jamie Hince losing the use of his middle finger after a freak accident in 2013 and having to relearn how to play the guitar without it, plus a very public divorce from Kate Moss. The transatlantic bluesey punk duo have always taken chances with their music and no two albums are the same, or even that similar. ‘Ash & Ice’ is no exception and shows a more melancholic side of the band. Loss is a theme that obviously cuts deep and is present throughout the record, never more so than in the pained ‘Bitter fruit’. Highly recommended.

Thu 6 Oct 7pm at O2 Institute, 78 Digbeth High Street, Birmingham B5 6DY £22.50www.academymusicgroup.com/