This is hands-down my favorite new release on this lovely Friday morning.
Ashland Craft’s new single “Danced With the Devil” is out everywhere today, and it’s easily one of the best songs she’s ever put out.
A co-write with Jenna LaMaster and Lee Starr, the song is an almost-haunting ballad about her finding a guy in some honky tonk outside of Dallas and falling for him almost immediately, even if it might’ve been against her better judgement.
I love the imagery she paints in the chorus comparing him to the devil, saying “he didn’t look a thing they said he looked like”:
“I danced with the devil last night
In a little dive outside of Dallas
And he didn’t look a thing they said he looked like
But I danced with the devil last night”
The production is really pretty simple too, which I love, and allows her incredible, raspy voice to shine.
And the seething last verse really closes it out so perfectly and poetically:
“I danced with the devil last night,
But I woke up with you this morning,
Even if I didn’t leave with him, is it still a sin that I,
I danced with the devil last night.”
I really hope this is the beginning of more to come from the South Carolina native, who released her fantastic debut album Travelin’ Kind in 2021, because this is a really strong single and I need more now.
I already have it on repeat, actually… do yourself a favor and check it out:
