“With A Song”
New York City alt-pop artist Mallaigh Ashton, a Geneseo alum, astonished the music scene last month with her lush dream pop single, “With A Song.” With a Mazzy Star-esque melody, spacey synthesizer, and light, all-encompassing vocals, Ashton’s fourth release enraptured its listeners into the shoulders of delicate romance and new beginnings.
With lyrics such as “I like the silence / and I like the lack,” “I like your perfect smile / I like your messy hair / I’d like to be with you / Anytime, anywhere,” Ashton gets incredibly personal in a way that feels universal. Whether romantic, platonic, intense, delicate, or a mix thereof, Ashton directs her listeners to reflect on the ones they love: “If I could make you / Fall in love / With a song / Then I would write it / and sing it to you / all night long.”
In conversation with Ashton, she noted her goals for “With A Song”: “It’s kind of about the delicateness of the beginning of a relationship—not to be like Taylor Swift,” she said, laughing. “So, I kind of went with that idea. I also wanted it to be simple production and simple lyrics, and wanted to go with a 90s dream pop vibe, like Mazzy Star and the Cranberries, or, in the more modern sense, like beabadoobee (I love her, she's bringing back the 90s vibes).”
Alongside “With a Song,” Ashton has released four other singles: “penn station in five,” “Camp Song,” “Second Avenue,” and “Second Avenue (Acoustic).” Amid the dream pop aesthetics of “With A Song,” the Geneseo alum also dabbles in pop-punk and indie folk with these singles, spanning from the tender, voice-dominant “penn station in five” to the gritty, high-energy electricity in “Second Avenue.”
However, songwriting did not always come easily to Ashton. “I didn’t think I could write songs. I always wanted to, but I was just more involved in musical theater and singing and stuff like that, and there was like a barrier in my mind. I thought songwriting was for professionals only.”
It was at Geneseo that Ashton broke through this barrier and tried her hand at songwriting. She met local songwriters, joined a band, and began to blossom into the writer she is, undeniably successfully, today. “[Without] going to Geneseo and having my friends at Geneseo, I don’t think I would have actually started writing songs.”
With so many different aesthetics and tones, Ashton really is doing it all—but rest assured, no matter the genre, single, or new declaration of love in her music, the New York City artist delivers.
As Ashton continues her music career, she is excited to release another new single and start the production of her EP. “Me and [my producer] Seth Huff are making a song right now. He’s coming to New York, and we’re going to do vocals for it. That one is called ‘Gravity Kiss,’ and it's going to be dream pop, but it’s going to be more 80s dream pop. It's very Carly Rae Jepsen, which is so exciting. So, we're doing that, and we're building an EP right now as well. The EP is going to be a few covers and a few originals.”
Ashton certainly is working on a lot to keep her audience engaged. With a song as otherworldly as “With A Song,” it's hard to imagine Ashton creating even bigger bangers, but, as we have seen, her music just keeps getting better. As we watch her mature through songwriting and production, and further develop her unique, genre-breaking sound, Ashton is sure to continue to excite.
If you are in the New York City area this coming month, you can go see Mallaigh Ashton perform her first ticketed show at Brooklyn Music Kitchen on April 23. To listen to her music or follow her on socials, follow @mallaighashton for a complete list on where to support this Geneseo alum’s music.