Ashley Kutcher heads ‘Back To My Roots’ on new EP

Recommended Tracks: “Back To My Roots,” “SCREW YOU,” “Hey Girl”
Artists You Might Like: Sadie Jean, Haley Joelle, Bellah Mae

Sometimes people lose themselves a little to finally get back to who they are at their core. On her latest EP, pop-country singer Ashley Kutcher is heading back to her roots — both literally and figuratively, on her new five-song project Back To My Roots. In both production, style, honesty and soul, Kutcher, known for her playful storytelling like on her 2024 EP, Play Responsibly, strips back who she is and who other people are in her life to regain control of who she is. A messy, hard and even heartbreaking time, Kutcher manages to head back to her roots and share more of who she is without all the flashing lights and cameras.

The five-track EP opens with the title track, “Back To My Roots,” a country ballad that sees Kutcher strip back all production and bring back her guitar. She describes running into someone she once knew named Georgia, who notices she’s been different. Between heading back to the roots of her hair, swearing off the beach and cutting off her bangs like the hair her mother had in 1993, Kutcher says she “went back to her roots,” to change and reform into the different her she’s telling her old friend Georgia. She sings, “Yeah back to my roots / And these roots run deep / So I let ’em grow / Yeah, I just let ’em breathe.”

In this new phase of her life, Kutcher experiences an electric high from a new fling on the more upbeat “Hey Girl,” describing how she received a “Hey girl” DM on social media after meeting a guy with brown hair and green-blue eyes. He buys her a drink, gets them a ride and they end up sleeping together. She then received a message from another girl, who revealed she’s been involved with the same guy, singing, “He got me thinkin’, man, it’s perfect, this could be the end / That’s when I got sent (What?) a hey girl DM.” Because of this DM, this dizzying haze is eventually followed by the devastating crash of betrayal.

Photo: Press

On “Get Up!,” Kutcher watches someone she loves spiral after a breakup. She’s stuck in the cycle of missing an ex who doesn’t treat her right. She sings, “Girl, you gotta, girl, you gotta get up! / Girl, you gotta get out of his truck / I’m sorry to be the one who’s gotta break the bad news with a little tough love.” It replaces heartbreak with motivation, and is ultimately about tough love — encouraging someone, despite all odds, to stop crying over him, stop waiting around and reclaim her life. She tries to convince her friend that she should put on a black dress, red lips, go out and stop waiting for a man who doesn’t show up for you.

Kutcher describes the start of a love story on “Fancy,” initially singing about starting a fancy steak dinner at a five-star restaurant before suggesting they ditch this and head to a dive bar, where things can be more real and not material. A quirky, charming pop country track, Kutcher strips down who she is and who someone else is to go back to who she at the core, singing, “So look around, no, I’m not about all of life’s fancier things / As long as I got you fancying me.” She continues using playful humor with serious topics to say she doesn’t need Michelin-starred meals, just happy-hour fries and cheap beer.

In the final track, Kutcher flips the usual break-up formula on its head on “SCREW YOU,” where Kutcher says that falling in love has ruined her sad song streak. A tongue-in-cheek confession, she says that now she’s happy in a relationship, she can’t write the emotional breakup ballads that began her career. She playfully sings, “Screw you / I can’t write another breakup song / Now that I’m wrapped up in your arms / Every night / Why’s it gotta feel so right?” She’s not angry, she’s almost mock-blaming her partner for making her happy, blushing and falling in love despite saying she never would. In the end, Kutcher admits she lied about never wanting love and that this person has genuinely changed her mind, forcing her to go back to her roots.