Newcomer Ashlyne Huff is on the verge of unveiling her new EP to the world and I am here to tell you that you should be watching for it! This EP is full of solid Pop songs that straddle the line between Dance and Pop Rock while delivering that huge, smooth, anthemic sound that all good Pop music has since the birth of the genre.
The album opens with the single “Heart of Gold.” The song has a nice Pop bounce to it and reminds me a bit of Lady Gaga or Fefe Dobson, but not in a copycat kind of way. For me, this is the probably the worst track on the EP (thus proving why I would make a terrible record exec. I suppose). The dancier “Trippin’ It Up” gets the EP on course with a slow build that explodes into a maniacal dance floor number that makes you want to get up and move as well as feel good. “Sweet Nothing” and “Heartbeat” come back to back and are more like mid-tempo anthems (we’d have called them Power Ballads perhaps back in the day). The latter is the stronger of the two and tremendously memorable. It sticks with you long after the song is done, particularly due to the explosive vocal that the song ends with. The more even keeled “Make It Rain” is up next and is another song that isn’t immediately striking but you find that the melody haunts you long after. “Comeback” ends the EP on a high note and is probably the closest Huff comes to pleasing the tween crowd. Not my favorite track, but certainly not bad by any stretch of the imagination.
Overall, this is a Pop album. If you are a fan of Rock or Country or R&B or Hip Hop then you won’t find much here to keep your interest. If it’s giant hooks, strong vocals, and smooth production that trips your trigger though, you’ll find it in spades on these six songs.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
