Somewhere between the release of her indie debut
Dirty Blonde and her 2024 EP
What Happens Now?,
Dasha signed to
Warner Records and refashioned herself as a country singer -- not so much abandoning pop as shifting her focus while adding down-home affectations, usually in the form of fiddles and acoustic guitars. The switch in style is algorithmically aided:
Dasha isn't aiming for country radio, she's targeting streaming playlists that are amorphous and malleable, appealing to different moods and genres.
What Happens Now? demonstrates her canny dexterity. Heavy on hushed, sensitive ballads featuring little more than her and a guitar, the EP also features melody-forward pop tunes that are heavy on spacy atmosphere. All of this comes to a head on "Austin," which rushes forward on a galloping rhythm
Dasha's vocal cadence races to match. As fitting as its namesake, "Austin" contains the heaviest dose of country on the album but it's the surging title track that suggests that
Dasha's talents lie on something glitzier -- something that's a little more pop and a little less downhome. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
