Ashley Suppa Drops ”Trouble” (SINGLE)

When “Trouble” first booted up, the surprise I felt was nearly unparalleled in regards to modern music. The immediate vocal layering is such an attention-grabbing power move and the successful attempt cinched with an impressive vocal run as Ashley Suppa segues into the down-tempo opening verse of her track was a lot for my mind to process. Suppa, someone whose rising online presence you’ve probably seen on platforms such as TikTok, is debuting “Trouble” as her very first single, and coming to the studio with something this determined and focused in only its mere first thirty seconds is something most artists will spend entire careers pursuing. Well, as soon as you think you’ve got “Trouble” figured out, Suppa kicks things up tenfold and offers a sublime chorus that you’d think required a time-traveling DeLorean to acquire; making the single’s funkadelic album art proud, the song shifts headfirst into a modern pop-funk track made all the better by Ashley Suppa’s detailed vocal performance. The instrumentation never feels too clever for its good, but it does juggle an ample array of sounds that have been nearly absent from modern music — worry not, the juggling act is pulled off with the utmost elegance. The absence of a saxophone solo felt like a direct jab at my adoration for the cheesy woodwind, but I digress. (Seriously, though, Ashley… a saxophone solo could be great on the next track. Think about it!)

Keeping “Trouble” as a pop track most importantly felt like a definite artistic choice as a less-experienced musician might feel the need to have the music break down into a ballad-ridden segment. The prospect of having something so high-energy and generally unheard of from an up-and-coming artist pushed aside for a smarmy, faux-heartfelt breakdown would have dismantled the fabulous momentum and deserved goodwill from the audience, but there’s none of that here so listeners can rest easy! The song is an unabashed pop track from start to finish and Suppa isn’t someone that will lead you astray in that regard. “I definitely write pop music. I have so much fun with it. I have many unconventional influences which I do my best to reflect in my writing. I like to incorporate aspects of every genre of music to keep my own music as interesting and as authentic as possible,” she says. The unabashed admiration for a genre some have disowned under personal disdain is something worth admiring in itself, and Suppa’s love for the pop genre is infectious. There’s no doubt that a pop revival is well on its way to reclamation with acts such as The Weeknd and Lana Del Rey focusing on paying homage to various musical pioneers with their more recent releases.

Ashley Suppa is an artist to keep in your sights with her future releases having their work cut out for them tenfold following up something like “Trouble.” An entire album of songs with a flashy throwback aesthetic would pair excellently with the work accomplished by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, among others, and the potential of there being more released soon is too enticing an opportunity to miss.

Michael Rand