ASHE RELEASES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DEBUT ALBUM “ASHLYN”
LA-based singer/songwriter Ashe has released her eagerly awaited full-length debut album, Ashlyn, out today via Mom + Pop Music. Building elaborate symphonies around her most intimate revelations, Ashe adorns her new songs with elements of everything from orchestral pop to grandiose ’70s rock to sublimely timeless piano balladry. Executive-produced by Ashe and Leroy “Big Taste” Clampitt, Ashlyn features her breakthrough single “Moral of the Story”: a FINNEAS-produced hit that’s surpassed 758 million streams to date, in addition to fueling a meteoric rise that includes amassing nearly a million Instagram followers, over 9.5 million monthly Spotify listeners, one million TikTok followers and earning the admiration of legendary artists like Brian Wilson (one of Ashe’s personal heroes).
Ashlyn, the follow-up to Moral of the Story Chapters 1 & 2 (a double EP executive-produced by FINNEAS), came to life at Clampitt’s home studio in Sherman Oaks, where Ashe and her collaborators spent much of last summer writing outside in the sunshine. “We’d put blankets down and Leroy would bring out a keyboard and his acoustic guitar, and we’d just hang out in the grass and work on the songs in this very traditional way—completely detached from the internet and lit-up screens,” Ashe recalls. Along with Clampitt (whose credits include Justin Bieber and Lennon Stella), she recorded with producers like Jason Evigan (Demi Lovato, Madonna) and Noah Conrad (LANY, Niall Horan).
Ashlyn also features her new collaboration with FINNEAS “Till Forever Falls Apart”, which was heralded as an “epic duet” by Rolling Stone, while The NewYork Times raved about its “full-scale, orchestral Wall of Sound.” The pair’s magical performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! had Billboard declared, “The performance clip captures nature –and pop --at its finest... you’ll be California dreaming after watching.” Watch it HERE and the official music video HERE.
Speaking about her debut album Ashe explains, “Ashlyn is deeply reflective and honest, full of stories of my experiences with fear and pain and turning those hard things into joy and independence. I’m an experiential writer and there was no way I was going to make an album that didn’t address my personal journey, from my brother’s death this last year to my own experiences with emotional abuse. I think you have to be vulnerable to create something really great and I believe I did that. Writing this album was also an opportunity to show that I’m not just a songwriter and a singer but a producer and a musician with a very clear vision for my art. Joni Mitchell refers to herself like a bee, gathering stories like pollen and trying to make honey from it, ‘whether or not the flavor suits people is something beyond my control.’ I really tried to take that approach to writing this album, making something I loved above everything else. I couldn’t be more proud of Ashlyn and I hope many people happen to love it too.”
“Me Without You,” the latest new track from Ashlyn, is a Beatles-esque piece of baroque pop that unfolds as an anthem of self-discovery, backing Ashe’s rhapsodic vocal work with lavish string orchestration. Flashes of classic Beach Boys influences can be heard in Ashe’s angelic layered vocals. “Me Without You” is an empowering anthem displaying Ashe’s growth and evolution both artistically and personally.
Ashe explains, “’Me Without You’ is my follow up to ‘Moral Of The Story.’ It's saying you thought that I needed you to be who I am. There is my past relationship...I had multiple people... You know, assumed that I needed them in my life to feel confident or to be me and "Me Without You" is just this record that's like, ‘Ooh, I am so good on my own.’”
The colourful music video was directed by Jason Lester (LAUV & Conan Gray, Sabrina Carpenter) with creative direction by Ashe. The clip sees Ashe in a speakeasy-style bar, dancing barefoot on broken glass and leaving behind traces of blood seemingly unfazed. Throughout the clip she’s flounced by a quartet of string players miming as Ashe drifts in and out of various scenes. Thematically the video conveys the underlying message that no matter where you go, you carry your past and memories with you.Å