Ashcoustics takes a cold, hard look at her own patterns and how they feed right back into her toxic relationships in a searingly candid new EP, No More – which hits home harder than most.
It’s a record centred around detanglement – from her own behaviours and from people around her. It’s a strikingly relatable topic and one now being explored with tentative regularity, and Ashcoustics sheds light on her own experience against a rousing folk backdrop.
The titular track kicks things off as a bold statement of self-acceptance as she draws a proverbial line in the sand, awash in regret and empowerment alike. She dabbles in restraint and explosivity as the soothing verses double in tempo come the rousing chorus line and revert just as quickly.
“Keep Knocking” sings to unrequited love with dark, liquid vocalism and hard-edged intensity (“Kiss me while I’m pretty/ But forget me when I’m dead”), as does “It’s Your Turn”. Both see her taking matters in her own hands and rejecting those who once rejected her as they come crawling back for more.
And then “Guilty Pleasure” wraps things up with decided assurance. The ballad-esque track sees her shedding her own toxic behaviours, dropping those guilty pleasures in favour of a life she’d really like to live. It’s drenched in nostalgia, fierce assurance and tempered simplicity alike.
Feature pic supplied by artist
