Ashlyn

***Ashlyn*** is the first studio album by American singer-songwriter Ashe.

It released on 7 May 2021 by Mom + Pop Records. It consists of 14 tracks, including songs featuring FINNEAS and Niall Horan, and spawned 6 singles. It released to great critical and fan acclaim, praising its honesty, rawness, and introspectiveness.

It was promoted through the world "The Fault Line Tour" in 2021-2022.

## Background

Its reflective subject matter centres on Ashe's experiences with divorce, emotional abuse, finding independence, and grief; including the passing of her brother due to an overdose in September 2020, alongside vulnerability and emotion.

Lyrically, the majority of *Ashlyn* tracks revolve around her divorce (such as: "Moral Of The Story", "Not Mad Anymore", "Me Without You" etc.); however, four tracks explore the motif of time, those being: "Love Is Not Enough", "When I'm Older", "Ryne's Song", and "Kansas".

Ashe commented that the album is "deeply reflective and honest, full of stories of my experiences with fear and pain and turning those hard things into joy and independence". She continues, "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".

## Production

Primarily, the album is a pop record, with influences of music from the 1970s, including artist like Carole King, Elton John and Neil Young, as her biggest musical referents. Ashe combines unique instrumentals and heartfelt storytelling to personalize each track and truly emphasize the mood being created.

*Ashlyn'*s tracklist is purposefully arranged like a mosaic of emotion, handmade evidence that healing isn't linear.

“Working on this album, there were a few writers who I picked specifically because they have more of a vintage or weird sensibility to their writing,” With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic coming right as the record-making process was beginning, she had to think outside of the box in order to get all of these moving pieces to align. So, she set up a workspace outside on a grassy lawn. “We were writing so many songs out on the lawn,” she explained. “I only had a MIDI keyboard hooked up to a computer and an acoustic guitar. We were just outside, we didn’t have the whole studio set-up where we’d get to sit at the board and play with all of those little toys. So, a lot of the songs were written really getting the bones right, getting the story right first”. Ashe found herself pushing several of her co-writers to follow their guts, regardless of where they took them. “All of these people have really cool sensibilities, but initially when they sat down with me, they avoided 7th chords or were like ‘Well, you’re not going to go to that iv or something,’” Ashe explained. “And I had to be like ‘No, no, no—that’s what I want! Let’s get weird, let’s embrace the weird. We can dial it back if we need to’”.

## Reception

Chris DeVille of *Stereogum* described the album's composition as being "steeped in ornate arrangements and classic sounds". While Jem Aswad of *Variety* opined that "it's a whale of a debut album from a giant young talent".

Moreover, Kailyn Lunn of *For The Punks* opines that "*Ashlyn* [is] the breakup album everyone needs", which is echoed by Jen Hughes of *The Crimson* saying "[*Ashlyn* is] catharsis for the broken hearted".

## Promotion

*For the full article, please view: The Fault Line Tour*.

Ashlyn was promoted through the headlining tour "The Fault Line Tour" in 2022, throughout North America and Europe.

With a special performance of the album at *Lafayette* in London on 13 September 2021.

### Singles

1. "Moral Of The Story" was released 14 February 2019, as part of the Moral Of The Story EP. A remix featuring Niall Horan was released on 17 June 2020.
2. "Save Myself" was released 22 July 2020, as part of the Save Myself (Single EP).
3. "Till Forever Falls Apart" was released 2 March 2021, with FINNEAS.
4. "I'm Fine" was released 8 April, 2021 and its music video were behind the scene clips of Ashe recording and shooting for the album cover.
5. "When I'm Older" was released 21 April 2021 and did not receive a music video.
6. "Me Without You" was released 5 May 2021 with a music video filmed at Highland Theatre and Café Birdie in Los Angeles, USA.

The following songs received music videos to bridge the gap between the release of *Ashlyn* and the tour:

* "Love Is Not Enough" was released 6 August 2021 with an accompanying music video, though not an official single.
* "Not Mad Anymore" was released 21 October 2021 with an accompanying music video, though not an official single.

### Physical Editions/Formats

* Digital.
* CD (3-panel digipack):
	+ Standard.
	+ Signed.
* Vinyl (2xLP, side D is etched):
	+ Clear (Standard, Limited).
	+ Coke Bottle (Limited Store & Tour Exclusive).
	+ Black [Translucent] (Limited *Indie Record Store* Exclusive).
	+ Red & White (Limited *Urban Outfitters* Exclusive).
		- How to tell the difference between sealed copies: *Clear* and *Red & White (UO)* both have a clear sticker on their front saying the variant; *Black [Translucent]* has a white "Made In Canada" sticker on the cellophane on the rear of the sleeve; *Coke Bottle* has "Made In Canada" printed directly onto the cellophane on the rear near the barcode.
* Cassette:
	+ Black (Limited Store Exclusive).
* Box Set (Limited, "Super Fan" Pre-Order Exclusive).
	+ CD, Cassette, T-Shirt, "Ashlyn" Patch, Signed Poster (1 out of 3).

## Gallery

### Album Photoshoot

Album CoverTracklistOut-take*Ashlyn* BackgroundTeaserTeaserBTSBTSBTSBTS
### Logos

"Ashe" Logo
(Rarely used)"Ashlyn" Logo
The font used is "**Verve Alternative Regular**" by Dieter Steffmann, with customised 'A', 'S', 'L', and 'N' letters. It is based on "MGB Partician" by Don Munson (1980).

### Physical Editions

Coke Bottle VinylBlack [Translucent] VinylClear VinylRed & White VinylBox SetBlack CassetteCD

## Credits

Vocals, Lyricist, Background Vocals: Ashlyn Rae Willson (Ashe)

Producer (Executive), Lyricist, Background Vocals, Bass, Synthesizer: Leroy Clampitt

Producer, Lyricist, Background Vocals, Keys (Piano): Noah Conrad

Producer, Vocals, Lyricist: Finneas O'Connell

Producer, Lyricist: Jason Evigan

Producer, Lyricist: Michael Pollack

Vocals, Lyricist: Niall Horan

Lyricist: Adam Melchor

Lyricist, Background Vocals: Casey Smith

Lyricist: Jenna Andrews

Lyricist: Sean Douglas

Lyricist: Taylor Goldsmith

Lyricist: Tobias Jesso Jr.

Mixing Engineer: Manny Marroquin

Master Engineer: John Greenham

Master Engineer: Michelle Mancini

Clarinet: Itamar Ben Zimra

Drums: Tim Spier

Violin: Morgan Paros

Cover Photography, Cover Design: Dana Trippe

Label, Copyright ©, Phonographic Copyright ℗: Mom + Pop

## Charts

 US Heatseekers Albums
 US Independent Albums
 US Top Alternative Albums
 Lithuanian Albums

## Trivia

* *Ashlyn* commences the trilogy tradition of naming studio albums after Ashe's real name, Ashlyn Rae Willson.
	+ Ashe has stated that this is because the albums reflect a version of her at a specific point in time. All are her and all are true, but not at the same time.

* *Ashlyn* makes reference to Ashe's ex-husband in: "Love Is Not Enough", "When I'm Older", "Me Without You", "Save Myself", "Not Mad Anymore", and "Moral Of The Story".

* Curiously, the album cover has Ashe sitting and leaning to the right, the same as *Rae* and *Moral Of The Story: Chapter 1 EP*.

* The album has 3 explicit tracks; coincidentally, so does *Rae*.

* The 'A' key is by far the most prevalent on the album, with 7 tracks being in A major.
	+ Coincidentally, *Rae* also has 7 songs in 'A' key; although 5 are in A major, and 2 in A minor.

* Although not released as singles, "Love Is Not Enough" and "Not Mad Anymore" both received music videos after the release of the album.

* The font used throughout this era's campaign is "Verve Alternative Regular" by Dieter Steffmann, based on "MGB Partician" by Don Munson (1980).

## Navigation

 Ashlyn Tracklist

## References

1. ↑ https://ghsexplosion.com/5424/reviews/ashlyn-ashe/
2. ↑ https://lancerledger.com/5900/entertainment/review-on-ashlyn-by-ashe-a-must-hear-album/
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.clashmusic.com/news/ashe-confirms-debut-album-ashlyn/
4. ↑ https://lancerledger.com/5900/entertainment/review-on-ashlyn-by-ashe-a-must-hear-album/
5. ↑ https://www.insider.com/ashe-ashlyn-debut-album-interview-2021-5
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-ashe-love-is-not-enough/
7. ↑ https://www.stereogum.com/2147101/ashe-ashlyn-album-review/columns/the-week-in-pop/
8. ↑ https://variety.com/2021/music/news/ashe-ashlyn-album-review-1234968587/
9. ↑ https://ftpunks.com/ashlyn-the-breakup-album-everyone-needs/
10. ↑ https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/6/27/ashe-boston-royale-concert-review-2022/
11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr4K19O071c