Sounds like: Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez
Genre: Pop rock, country, dance pop
Meet Ashlyne Huff, a Nashville-bred singer-songwriter.
Huff is the daughter of the incredibly accomplished, award winning country producer and guitarist Dann Huff, whose production credits can be found in the liner notes of albums from the likes of Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood, as well as guitar credits on countless MuuMuse favorites, including Laura Branigan‘s “Self Control” and DeBarge‘s “Rhythm of the Night.”
In August of 2009, Huff released her debut single, “Heart of Gold.” The song saunters along with a country twang of venom a la Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”–a sound that Huff concedes is entirely of her own upbringing: “The songs are pop, but I’m from Nashville, I write like a country singer,” she explains in her biography. (That her own father was on board to help shape the sound of Underwood’s debut career probably couldn’t have hurt much either.)
On May 11 of 2010, Huff released her debut self-titled EP, a six track collection of pop-rock tracks that showcase a variety of different sounds from the up-and-coming singer–from punchy, catchy cuts like “Trippin’ It Up” to the unexpectedly aching guitar power ballad “Sweet Nothing.”
Now, Huff plans to release the first single from her forthcoming debut album, Let It Out: “White Flag,” a purely dance-pop affair.
Though the chorus melody is entirely derivative of Miley Cyrus‘ “Party in the USA” and the noisy synthesizer beat plays similar to the Ke$ha/Katy Perry sound that dominated much of 2010 (plus a touch of Madonna‘s “Celebration”), “White Flag” is still enough of an addictive, crunchy dance-pop offering in its own right to merit attention.
“Everything seems to be yours / I don’t want to want to fight no more,’ Huff surrenders atop the glittering chorus. Coupled with the most deliciously catchy bridge (“Left, right, turn around, there you are!”), Huff might just have found the winning formula for a breakthrough into the mainstream scene.
Click below to stream the song–and enjoy a free, guilt-free download of Huff’s “White Flag”!
“White Flag” was released on January 18. (iTunes)