2-09-2024 4:28am

TU SINGER REVEALS

Ashley Kutcher makes promising yet rocky debut in ‘House On The Water’

(Photo manipulation by Nathan Rubin)

Encapsulating heartbreak, Ashley Kutcher’s debut album, “House On The Water,” showcases the singer’s rough yet hopeful start in the pop music industry. She released the album on Jan. 26.

Since TikTok’s rise to popularity in 2018, the app has served as a landscape of opportunity for aspiring musicians, allowing short clips of their songs to reach a wider audience. One of these artists is Kutcher, a nursing student at Towson University (Md.) who gained popularity on social media after her song “Love You From a Distance” (2020) went viral. Since then, Kutcher has released two EPs, “One Eighty” (2021) and “Survive My Own Mind” (2022). She has also performed her first headline shows in Los Angeles and New York in March 2022.

Kutcher is currently signed to The Darkroom, a record label known for starting Billie Eilish’s career. She has built up the release of her debut album over the past six months, dropping the first single, “Boy From Carolina,” in June 2023. Like her previous releases, Kutcher shared short clips of songs from her album on TikTok, building anticipation for the album’s Jan. 26 release date.

Known for her emotional lyrics about heartbreak and romance, Kutcher delivers a similar product to her past EPs with “House On The Water.” “Boy From Carolina” opens the album, emanating her hopeless romantic personality. In the bridge she sings, “I know he’s lying but he’s still coming home / And I don’t wanna sleep here all alone / I know he’s lying but I bet you he already knows / That I’m not gonna be the one to let this go.”

Kutcher sings about feeling hopeless in a relationship, unable to leave or let go. While she sings earnestly, the lyrics can feel flat or repetitive compared to the rest of the album. With little diversity, FINISH READING HERE