Dasha : Anna Review

by Shannon Smith

In Anna, Dasha steps into a pop-country space, reintroducing herself not just as a pop-country hitmaker but as a songwriter reclaiming her given name and emotional voice. This eight-track EP unfolds as a portrait of growth that captures Dasha’s confidence as a vocalist and fragility in songwriting in equal measure. For country fans, it’s a revealing document of an artist finding equilibrium between commercial appeal and country storytelling.

Opening with the flirtatious “Work On Me,” Dasha immediately asserts her trademark blend of country twang and pop flair. Her phrasing is playful, her delivery effortlessly confident, and her control remarkable.  The vocal performance teeters between charm and challenge, much like the song’s message. The follow-up, “Not At This Party,” layers synth-pop gloss over country sensibility, combining electronic beats with acoustic instrumentation to create a buoyant dance-country hybrid that feels both current and genre-defying.

“Please Stop Changing” Dasha pivots toward storytelling, revealing her maturity as a lyricist. The song’s acoustic arrangement places her warm, steady, and impeccably phrased voice front and center. Her diction is strong, with every word sung with clarity, and her emotional restraint gives the performance gravitas. “Don’t Mean To” continues that thread with a light folk-pop texture, her voice adopting a softer hue that suits the song’s wistful mood. Meanwhile, “Gimmie A Second” and “Like It Like That” showcase her pop instincts with infectious choruses, bright production, and vocal doubling that never overshadows her personality. These songs radiate confidence, carried by her natural charisma.

Then comes “Train,” the lone outside composition, written by Kyle Sturrock. Its acoustic framework and melodic contour fit seamlessly within the EP’s sonic world. Dasha leans deeper into her country accent, delivering the lyric with grit and tenderness. Finally, the closer “Oh, Anna” becomes the emotional fulcrum of the record as a letter to her younger self and a reclamation of identity. It’s a stripped-down, soul-baring finale that contextualizes everything before it: the flirtation, the heartbreak, the resilience. Here, “Anna” isn’t just a title; it’s a declaration of becoming.

Throughout Anna, Dasha balances country and pop polish with admirable restraint. She co-wrote seven of the eight songs with some of Nashville and Los Angeles’ most respected pens—Ashley Gorley, Hillary Lindsey, Josh Kear, Emily Weisband, and Chris LaCorte, among them. Their experience shows in the tight construction and commercial viability, yet Dasha’s personality remains distinct. Occasionally, the lyrics edge close to familiar territory, particularly on tracks that tread the well-worn themes of self-discovery and relationship tension, but her vocal conviction lifts them above cliché.

Anna is Dasha, maintaining her emotional core while writing within mainstream country frameworks. The EP’s sequencing of alternating high-energy pop-country tracks with quieter acoustic meditations gives listeners a satisfying emotional arc. As a follow-up to her viral success with “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’),” this release shows an artist stepping out of her own shadow.