Ava Max - Diamonds and Dancefloors

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 20 / 2 / 2023

Label: Select Label
Format: CD

intro

Enjoyable second album from promising dance pop artist Ava Max

Ava Max is America's latest song and dance sensation. This 28 year-old Milwaukee-born mini-Madonna has just released her second album, 'Diamonds & Dancefloors' and she appears determined to pursue pulsating rhythms, TikTok-friendly hooks and powerful choruses. Max - whose parents emigrated to the USA from Albania in the early 1990s - has already enjoyed one UK hit with 'Sweet But Psycho' - a catchy work-out anthem that topped the singles chart in 2019. However her big British breakthrough was interrupted by the pandemic and she is now making up for lost time. Co-written with her producer Cirkut (who has a long pedigree of working with top artists, including Miley Cyrus), 'Diamonds & Dancefloors' is being promoted as a “heartbreak album”. But it doesn't dig too deep lyrically and its strength lies in Max's forceful voice - she's a strong soprano who is also capable of hitting deeper notes. The songs are simply a lot of fun. There are influences from Lady Gaga and the melody for 'Million Dollar Baby' is borrowed (with the appropriate credits given) from LeAnn Rimes' 'Can't Fight The Moonlight'. 'Ghost' compares a fading love affair with a supernatural event whilst 'Weapons' refers - bizarrely - to the chemical composition of the human body....”We're nothing but some stardust and molecules”. There are occasionally hints of something rather darker. 'Get Outta My Heart' samples the score from the 1968 British psychological thriller film 'Twisted Nerve'. And the title track depicts a woman dancing alone in lockdown. There are some fine pop gems in 'Diamonds & Dancefloors' - which should help put Ava Max back on track towards the major British breakthrough that many anticipated she'd achieve before the pandemic changed things.

Track Listing:-

1 million dollar baby
2 sleepwalker
3 ghost
4 hold up (wait a minute)
5 diamonds & dancefloor
6 get outta my heart
7 cold as ice
8 one of us
9 dancing's done