ASHLEY MYLES: TIDES EP | ALBUM REVIEW - East of 8th Music Blog

Much like puzzles, our lives are a lot of small pieces that come together to form a big, hopefully beautiful, picture. For New York chanteuse Ashley Myles, that beautiful picture is her debut EP, Tides.

At the ripe old age of 11, Myles had her first professional gig, performing at Madison Square Garden as a munchkin in the Wizard Of Oz. With her early musical development shaped by musical theater, she went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for acting, the Berklee School of Music for performance, and attended college at the Jazz Music Program at The New School.

All of those experiences have come together on Tides, a four-track treasure that encompasses the ebbs and flows of relationships. The EP opener and title track is an offering of cool, vintage-tinged, pop-infused soul, a fitting backdrop for Myles’ big, smokey vocals. The tension of “Fire” is punctuated by a four-on-the-floor, foot-stomping beat and handclaps, reminiscent of Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep.” Myles changes the tempo, stylistically as well as rhythmically, with piano ballad “Bricks,” but then takes us back to the cinematic groove we dug in the first two tracks.

We’re impressed with Tides; it’s everything an EP—and a debut at that—should be. Myles gives us a taste of what she can do, and leaves us wanting more.