Ashe Is Becoming The Girl Of Her Dreams

Ashe’s life has reached a major turning point. The singer-songwriter is used to selling out theaters but not getting recognized in public, as she expects when we meet for lunch at Hillstone’s New York City outpost. But less than two minutes after we settle into our booth, a fan approaches and tells the 33-year-old California native, “I'm really proud of how your career has grown, and I’m really excited for your album.”

“I paid her to say that,” Ashe jokes afterward.

Years ago, that comment would’ve made Ashe — dressed like a posh mermaid in a sequined blue-and-green skirt and cropped sweater — feel more pressure about a new project. Now, it only adds to her excitement. “I feel like I’ve done so much therapy and healing that this is just fun. I am so lucky this is my job, and the fact that anyone cares at all is unbelievable.”

The album in question is Ashe’s fourth solo effort, The Girl of Your Dreams, which is poised to become her biggest yet. Her lead single “Stop The Wedding!” — a cinematic soul number that argues why it’s OK to leave your groom at the altar — is already a Top 3 hit in the U.K. and climbing charts stateside after going viral as part of a TikTok trend pointing out red flags in a relationship.

“I knew that ‘Stop The Wedding!’ was special,” she says, smiling as she digs into our focaccia, but even she’s surprised it’s reached Spotify’s global Top 10. “There are 12 tempo changes in that song,” she points out. “The fact that that's on radio is the craziest thing ever to me.” She does have a theory, though.

“I feel like it's latching on because people are putting their own stories onto it,” she says. “For some people, ‘Stop The Wedding!’ meant quitting their job and trying to chase a new dream. That's so cool.” For Ashe, the track is literal, born out of wishing she had canceled her first wedding in 2016. But before she could write about it, she had to reach a breaking point.

In 2020, Ashe got her first big break when Netflix featured her single “Moral of the Story” in the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before sequel P.S. I Still Love You. “[Producer] Finneas watched a clip from the movie, and he called me that day like, ‘This is going to change your life,’” she recalls. “It was fun until it wasn’t. I didn't have any boundaries, so I didn't know what to say yes and no to.”

Following her divorce and the death of her brother in 2020, and her breakout success over the next two years, she experienced what she calls a “nervous breakdown,” leaving Los Angeles for Nashville and canceling her 2023 tour. Over the next year, she completed the final album in a trilogy titled after her birth name, Ashlyn Rae Willson, 2024’s Willson, but she still felt unfulfilled and wondered if she’d ever make music again.

After a lot of “therapy and gardening,” she asked Finneas for some advice. “I texted him like, ‘How can I make music again in a way that doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out?’” she says.

The answer was forming a band. In 2024, Ashe and Finneas made a collaborative album, The Dream, under a new stage name, The Favors, completely in secret. “We made the entire album before we shopped it to a label, because we didn’t want anyone to have an opinion about this,” she explains. “It gave us so much creative freedom.” The twosome dabble in sweeping, romantic Fleetwood Mac-esque ’70s rock, which made Ashe feel ready to go solo again with The Girl of Your Dreams. And this time, she’s ready to have some fun again.

“Lasso the Moon” is full-on ABBA whimsy, encouraging us to raise our standards (“I'm so sick of, ‘Well, he's a nice guy’ keeping people in mediocre relationships,” she says), while “Sweet Caroline” (not a Neil Diamond cover) is Ashe’s first time calling out a frenemy. “To pose as a girl’s girl but then be a backstabber really bugs the sh*t out of me,” she says, sipping her iced coffee. But don’t get out your detective hat. “She will know it's about her, but no one else will clock it.”

“Love Bomb” tackles the phenomenon over folksy instrumentation, inspired by Selling Sunset, of all things. “I was love-bombed by my ex, but no one was using the phrase. Then Chrishell [Stause] was telling [Emma Hernan], ‘You're being love-bombed and manipulated by this narcissist,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” she says. “I thought, ‘Wouldn't it be fun to flip it on its head and say you should be love-bombing yourself?’ You can take all of this insanity and kill yourself with kindness.”

The Girl of Your Dreams arguably continues Ashe’s pattern of self-titled albums, as she reaches the height of her powers sonically and emotionally. She credits her husband John Canada (yes, she also thinks his name is “c*nty”), with whom she just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary, as a major part of her healing process.

“How many men have I been with?” she asks, counting with her fingers before laughing. “Enough to know that most are uncomfortable with me being bright, funny, smart, or big. When I walk in a room, I want to make people laugh and smile. That’s what I was doing as a 2-year-old at Christmas with my family, but I’ve always been with men who tried to dim that. He is the first guy who has never made me feel like I had to be... small.” However, she didn’t go as far as naming the album Canada, as Finneas suggested. “When they think I’m going to zig, I have to zag,” she says.

Ashe has never made a point of keeping her life private, and her level of fame up until this point has allowed her to do just that. Wikipedia doesn’t even list her birthday. “They don’t?” she asks, clearly surprised. “I don't care. I’m so proud of the life that I've made for myself, and it’s taken 33 years to get here. April 24, 1993. Print it, Wikipedia.” However, as “Stop The Wedding!” keeps rising, having a low profile may no longer be possible.

“That very sweet girl that just came up to me, what if I was just starting my period today and we were having an uncomfortable conversation?” she asks, concerned. “I have a hard time being like, ‘I'm so sorry, I don't want to take a photo right now’ without seeming like a b*tch.” As a result, her relationship with social media is now evolving. “I like that I don't take it all too seriously, and people see an authentic version of me, but I reserve the right to change my mind,” she warns.

Taking one last bite of her spicy tuna roll, Ashe reviews her week's schedule, which includes a few promo performances ahead of her tour announcement. “In such an AI world, I can't wait to put on a show with no digital screens,” she says. “I want to start on a vanity that rolls out, and take curlers out of my hair for the first song.” In becoming the girl of her dreams, Ashe is having more fun than ever.