Simone Ashley is having the kind of summer that makes clear she has never been just one thing. The Bridgerton star has released her debut EP, Songs I Wrote In New York, stepping fully into a music career she says she kept private for years, and just last weekend she turned up courtside at the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals in Los Angeles wearing an outfit that felt as personal as her new songs.

A music career Ashley kept sacred

Ashley told Refinery29 Australia that her connection to music actually predates her acting career, though she waited until now to share that side of herself publicly. She described acting and music as fulfilling different creative needs rather than competing for her attention, explaining that acting lets her inhabit someone else’s story while music gives her the chance to tell her own.

The EP takes its shape from the city where it was written. Ashley said New York has a way of making a person feel anonymous one moment and inspired the next, and much of the project explores love, romance and the fleeting moments that quietly become lasting memories. Rather than chase a particular genre or sound, she leaned into music that felt cinematic and emotionally honest, an instinct she credits partly to her acting background and her interest in building a visual world around each song.

Asked to pick a favorite track, Ashley compared the question to choosing a favorite child, though she pointed to lead single “Free” as the song that came together most naturally, describing it as something that flowed out of her without much searching. She also took an active hand in the visual side of her rollout, shaping everything from mood boards to styling for the music video for “Sublime,” which drew inspiration from an immersive branded experience she attended in New York earlier this year.

Touring plans and a Bridgerton future

Ashley said she hopes to eventually bring the music on the road, noting that a live show offers something a recorded song simply cannot replicate, and specifically mentioned wanting to tour Australia given her fondness for past visits there. She was careful, though, to reassure Bridgerton fans that music is not replacing acting. She described the two as different forms of the same instinct toward storytelling and said she feels fortunate to have room for both. Ashley stayed coy on whether she will return as Kate Bridgerton for the show’s fifth season, calling the role a place that will always feel like home, and said she would welcome the idea of one of her own songs getting a Regency style makeover within the show itself.

A laid back look at the World Cup

Ashley’s music news arrived alongside a separate moment in the spotlight. At SoFi Stadium last weekend for the World Cup quarterfinals, she appeared in a relaxed, off duty look, pairing an oversize graphic T shirt referencing a popular English football chant with slouchy light wash jeans, gold jewelry and her hair worn down. She was joined in the suite by singer Laufey, who wore a fitted white top from Barcelona based label Paloma Wool with textured brown linen shorts, rounding out a low key, sporty afternoon among a crowd of other celebrities taking in the match.

Between a genuinely personal debut project and a high profile appearance on the world stage, Ashley’s summer suggests an artist increasingly comfortable letting different sides of herself take the lead.