Ashlyne Huff: Ashlyne Huff

Ashlyne Huff: Ashlyne Huff
Back on May 11th, Ashlyne Huff released her debut self titled album. On the front cover of the album is a picture of Ashlyne. She’s quite the looker. And on the back you can get a small glimpse of her fine legs, one of the perks of being a dancer. Its not until you listen to the album that you get the real sense of Miss Huff’s multiple talents.
With only six tracks to the album it makes it difficult to judge how good of a songwriter she is. I mean, what if five of the songs are brilliant but another four she could have added wouldn’t have been?
So, for her lasting impact I’d like to see some more original work.
What you can get a sense of is Ashlyne’s talented voice. She describes her sound as a mix between Pink and Kelly Clarkson. I find it a bit of a cop-out to settle for any comparisons. Naturally, she’s pop based in her musical writing, but perhaps only for the moment. So you could have switched out Pink and Clarkson for just about any other two female pop stars.
The opening track “Heart of Gold” is a straight out electronic pop song. Its catchy, to say the least, but clearly not her most powerful performance. Interestingly, Huff is from LA but hails from Nashville originally. So it was no surprise to hear a bit of that country influence on this track. But, she doesn’t stand to be labeled as country-pop.
“Trippin’ it Up” is more or less a dance track with guitars. Its got a very movable beat, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear more of a traditional dance mix of it coming at some point. I also find that her voice sounds more natural on this track than “Heart of Gold”. I don’t know if she was having more fun here, or if she was forcing out the vocals more on “Heart of Gold”. Still, she shows she can make a fun dance track while singing about more serious topics than just partying.
“Sweet Nothing” slows things down with what I consider to be a very good ballad-type song. The acoustic guitar allows for Ashlyne to show off her voice. And she does it quite well. Its funny to hear that she didn’t always like to sing considering how talented she is at it.
The one sore spot for me on the album was “Comeback”. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of a relationship being compared to a comeback. But on top of that it just was the weakest song on the album. And that’s what leaves me wondering if she just ran out steam. A few more tracks would have settled that question, but she’s certainly capable of writing good songs. And who knows how she’ll grow as a writer and singer. Or what influences will unfold in her future songs. The certainty is that she has the goods to be around for a long time. Her success is wholely determined on how committed she’ll be to trying to break through a genre that’s filled with lots of talented, pretty women all ready. I can say at least she’s being herself and not going for the Lady Gaga approach. Its a testament to all young women that you should be comfortable with who you are, and proud of it at the same time. Ashlyne Huff is going places, like a stage near you soon. So be sure to check her out.
Rating: 7.8/10
MP3: Ashlyne Huff “Trippin’ it Up”
Buy: iTunes