Ashnikko releases her highly-anticipated second studio album Smoochies – out everywhere via Parlophone/Warner Records. An explosion of maximalist pop with club, country, and hip-hop inflections, Smoochies finds Ashnikko fully stepping into the commanding-but-hyper-cute persona she created for herself as a teenager. The album follows 2023’s debut WEEDKILLER and is released alongside focus track “Skin Cleared” – watch the official visualizer HERE.
LISTEN TO SMOOCHIES HERE
Ashnikko’s second album, Smoochies, is her most personal body of work to date. It sonically expands her distinct hybrid-pop sound while taking a significantly more autobiographical approach to lyrics. The 15-track album is a rebellious one, made from a place of radical joy at a time when the world has never felt more threatening for femmes and marginalized communities. In response, Ashnikko is taking up space by inhabiting a state of pure play. It’s absurd and grotesque, explicit and tender, sexy without an ounce of desire to perform for the male gaze.
On Smoochies, Ashnikko says: “smoochie world was such an important place for me to inhabit to remind myself why i make music – to play. it was an exercise in eroticism, in power, in mischief, in not taking myself too seriously. smoochies is the tiny door you find in the club bathroom that you crawl through on your hands and knees to a technicolor parallel dimension ruled by rat princesses. I learned so much through writing this album, and i had a fucking amazing time.”
The new album marks a return to the effervescent mix of sugary pop melodies and domineering rap that became Ashnikko’s calling card early on, while elevating her natural mischievousness into an artform. To help bring that to life, she worked with longtime producer/songwriter Tom Slinger and also had input from a cast of smash hitmakers like Skyler Stonestreet, Oscar Scheller, Tove Burman, Elvira Anderfjard, Luka Kloser, Steph Jones, and Cleo Tighe – making Smoochies Ashnikko’s most collaborative album to date.
The songs cover everything from the erotic possibility that arises after a break-up (“Itty Bitty”), to carnal yearning (“She’s So Pretty”), to recent experiences of dating and collecting boys like Labubus (“Trinkets” / “I Want My Boyfriends to Kiss”). In addition to celebrating her messy side, “Smoochie Girl” also outs her as a lover girl. The pounding and sultry “Skin Cleared” is about the physicality of heartbreak. Acid tongue lyrics capture the raw pettiness that arises in the aftermath, but also reflect how the mind influences the body by being deliberately ignorant about the connection (“I don’t even get the flu anymore / What does that mean?”).
Smoochies wears Ashnikko’s vulnerabilities on its sleeve. She allows herself to reflect, to be intense, to be “too much,” and ultimately to heal. “Full Frontal” is a commentary on aging, exaggerating the desire to be smooth-brained to camp extremes – like “The Substance” as a rubbery techno banger. The gentle acoustic closer “It Girl” delivers a damning commentary of fame while extending kindness towards the childhood void that fame often ends up filling.
Ultimately, the core of Smoochies is personal autonomy, joyful whimsy, and a reverence for having a good time – building blocks that have been with Ashnikko since the start, which she has now used to build a feel-good paradise that rejects performance and embraces reality with all its perfect imperfections.
Last month, Ashnikko announced the global SMOOCHIES Tour with an impressive 45 dates. In addition to her previously announced UK and Ireland dates, Ashnikko will bring her unmissable live show to stages across North America, Europe, and Australia. The North American leg of the tour kicks off in Phoenix, AZ on March 18, 2026 and stops in major cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Nashville, and more before wrapping in Toronto on May 19, 2026. Tickets for all dates are on sale now – purchase HERE.
Ashnikko has achieved some huge milestones for an artist just one album into her career, surpassing 3.9 Billion global streams and 700 million video views to date, with hit songs “Slumber party” and “Daisy”. Following the release of her debut album, WEEDKILLER, in 2023 Ashnikko has spent the past 18 months touring across the globe including a headline show at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, a headline tour across Latin America and festival sets at Reading & Leeds, Madcool, Bonnaroo, NOS Alive and more. Earlier this year, Ashnikko took to the road across Australia opening for Billie Eilish on her “Hit Me Hard and Soft” tour, performing at arenas across the country to tens of thousands of fans. Her second studio album Smoochies is out now.
