Recommended tracks: “Please Stop Changing,” “Gimmie A Second,” “I Don’t Mean To”
Artists you might like: Megan Moroney, Ella Langley, Kelsea Ballerini
Dasha became well known after her breakthrough single, “Austin (Boots Stop Workin),” went viral, but with her fanbase growing by the day, a lot of listeners still haven’t had the chance to really meet the girl behind the country persona. Her latest EP, Anna, is that chance.
If you haven’t taken the time to dig through her earlier releases, you might miss just how sharp her pen really is. Over the past year, she’s been quietly piecing together a full on world, Dashville USA, and Anna feels like the moment she finally hands listeners the map. Now we’re not just hearing songs; we’re meeting the characters and stories that inspired them.
“I feel like the project is my chance to take a few steps back and really tell my story of who I am & where I’m from.”
Give her a harmonica, some guitar, and a pulse of drums, and you’ve got the makings of a perfect country-pop hit. “Work On Me” is sassy and flirtatious in all the right places, guaranteed to have the girlies singing and dancing for months to come. If we were still in the era where CMT music videos played on loop in every living room, this one would be in constant rotation. In true Dasha fashion, there’s a fun little dance just waiting to hit the dance floor.
“Not At This Party,” released earlier this year, was met with high praise from her fanbase, racking up over 35 million streams on Spotify. Because of its success, the San Luis Obispo native came back with an acoustic version a few months later and even spawned a remix by David Guetta. The country-pop singer went on to perform the single on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“Please Stop Changing” and “Train” feel like two sides of the same coin, born from the same pain of watching someone or something evolve without you. “Train” is the first song Dasha has released that she didn’t write herself, yet somehow it’s perfectly tailored to her voice and story.
“Gimmie A Second” is a double threat, balancing commercial appeal with emotional depth. Lines like “My half-drank tequila still sits on your counter” and “My spray tan still stuck to your white tile shower” anchor the heartbreak in tangible, everyday moments. She is essentially a glittery, tequila-soaked ghost that haunts her ex’s apartment. Peak breakup victory is being able to mess with your ex’s head without actually being there: “Do you reckon you could give me a second / Before you stick your hands down her baby blue jeans? / You’re two steppin’ with your second best / And when it’s obvious that it’s all for me so / Go take your show out on the road / You’ll think of me when you get home.”
As a long time Dasha fan, I hear all the remnants of her earlier songwriting in “I Don’t Mean To” — heartbreak you can actually feel, not just read about. The track wrestles with the idea of missing someone who used to matter and realizing the current situation is, well, meh. In just four lines — “I said something so hilarious / Would’ve put you on the floor / But he sat there and blank stared at it / Like he was stoned and bored” — Dasha nails that awkward emptiness when a new thing just doesn’t measure up to what you had before.
Keep up with Dasha: Instagram // TikTok // Facebook // Website
