On new album ‘Rae’ – which happens to be her middle name – Ashe is showing that she is one of the most gifted pop voices of her generation, with a knack for keeping mid-tempo songs engaging. Whether drawing on her tumultuous life or just the world she sees in front of her, she’s consistently interesting and endearingly earnest.
It’s also quite clear that she’s pissed off. If songs like ‘Hope You’re Not Happy’ and ‘Angry Woman’ are to be taken at face value – and it’s hard not to – then we’re in for a fun ride. And whilst there is definitely a melancholic side to the album, it is the a wry indignation that sticks with the listener.
An acoustic guitar underpins most of the songs on the album, and lend it a quality that will appeal to fans of Stevie Nicks to Shania Twain. The melodies are definitely very much still pop, but it feels like ‘Rae’ is part of what feels like a mainstream pivot towards folk music currently.
On the aforementioned ‘Angry Woman’ Ashe references Carly Simon’s smash ‘Your So Vain’ before the song builds into a huge outro until she’s left on her own to muse. She sounds most Swift-esque on ‘Emotional’ where she’s able to show off her vocal dexterity as it glides up and down the track with playful abandon.
Near the backend of the album is her recent single ‘Love Is Letting Go’ which features Diane Keaton. For those in the know, it won’t escape them that both stars have lost a brother, which lends the song a genuinely touching quality.
Overall, ‘Rae’ is unlikely to catapult Ashe directly into the top echelons of pop music, but it’s definitely a rung on the ladder and should be more than just a footnote.
7/10
Words: Nicholas Graves
