As she sets the stage for her next era, country artist Dasha is eager to remind fans they “don’t have to shrink themselves to be loved or accepted” with an exhilarating anthem about a savage breakup.

The Nashville-based singer-songwriter unveiled “Memo,” a musical kiss-off to an ex-lover, last week. In an interview with HuffPost, she described the song ― co-written with musicians Shane McAnally, Ashley Gorley and Ben Johnson ― as the “older sister” to her 2023 smash “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’),” on which she confronted a partner with little interest in commitment.

“Didn’t get the memo/Even all your friends know I’m already halfway out of Tennessee,” she sings against a rollicking arrangement of guitars, strings and handclap rhythms. “Go look out your window, now the only thing that you’ll have left of me is... a memory.”

“Memo,” Dasha said, reflects “the moment where you stop chasing validation and start choosing yourself” in the wake of a failed romance or other personal setbacks.

“We spend so much time wondering if we’re enough for other people,” she told HuffPost. “If someone listens to this song after a breakup, during a hard season, or just on a day when they need a little confidence boost, I hope it helps them remember that their worth has never depended on someone else’s opinion.”

The “Memo” video finds Dasha riding horseback across desert dunes and on the beach at sunset, a wink to her native state of California. Last month, she donated $50,000 to Cowboy Ranch Rescue, an animal advocacy group dedicated to rehabilitating abused and neglected horses.

Dasha, who worked on a farm before pursuing her music career full-time, said the donation was a no-brainer: “I feel so fortunate that my career has given me the ability to give back in a meaningful way ... even small acts of kindness can have a ripple effect.”

“Memo” will be featured on the follow-up to Dasha’s 2024 breakout album, “What Happens Now?” Listeners got their first taste of her new music in May, when she dropped the song “Mad About It,” in which she pledges to keep her cool after an ex moves on with one of her friends.

Not surprisingly, Dasha’s knack for channeling personal heartache into her music and embrace of a pop-leaning aesthetic has drawn comparisons to Taylor Swift. Last year, she became the second solo female country artist after Swift to join Spotify’s Billions Club when “Austin” surpassed one billion streams on the platform, fueled in part by the song’s virality on TikTok.

As grateful as she is for the success of “Austin,” Dasha insists she “wasn’t trying to recreate anything” when she hit the studio to record her new album, tentatively set for an early 2027 release.

“I wanted to write from where I actually am now, not who people expect me to be,” she explained. “There are songs about love, heartbreak, confidence, freedom and figuring yourself out, but even the vulnerable moments come from a place of strength.”

She went on to note: “If [‘What Happens Now?’] was me introducing myself, this one feels like me fully owning who I am after the whirlwind roller coaster I’ve been on.”

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