Dream Pop from Ava Valianti

Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Ava Valianti’s music lands in the complicated space between uncertainty and growing up and while she may still be at the beginning of her career, her indie pop sound already carries an unusually assured understanding of emotion. Threading modern pop elements through intimate, cinematic songwriting, she’s created a sound that captures the contradictions of adolescence while presenting confusion not as something to hide from but the material to be shaped into song.

She first revealed her sound with “Bubble Wrap,” her October 2023 debut single which marked the beginning of a rapid ascent and placed an emphasis on honesty within her songwriting. Since then, each release has pointed towards an artist becoming increasingly confident in her musical vision, while retaining the emotional openness that first connected her with listeners. Ava writes from the understanding that feelings rarely arrive in orderly packages; affection can exist alongside uncertainty, self-discovery can be uncomfortable and caring about someone doesn’t necessarily mean being able to give them what they need.

Her songwriting finds its strength in these grey areas, turning personal experiences into something wider and more recognisable. This connection has already carried beyond the usual beginnings of a rising artist and her songs have received airplay on more than 300 radio stations, while recognition from the New England Music Awards, Boston Music Awards, American Songwriter and International Acoustic Music Awards has accompanied her journey. She’s also played alongside Jessica Baio, Lucy Kaplansky, Grammy-nominated Andrew Duhon and The Strumbellas, as well as selling out her own headline shows.

More recently, she performed at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, further extending her growing national profile. Earlier this year, her second EP, Sophomore Slump, brought together the emotional threads running through her recent work, with tracks such as “The Conversation” exploring the difficult sphere between affection and acceptance, while the driving “Heads on Fire” and final track “Great Pretender” expanded the release’s scope.

Now, following the EP, her single titled “alterations” takes that candid songwriting somewhere even more vulnerable with one of the most personal songs she’s written thus far. The track examines what happens when a distorted perception of yourself becomes so convincing that changing your body starts to feel like the answer to everything. “alterations” is the exhausting cycle of comparison and perfectionism and its internal dialogue follows someone convinced that if they could simply change enough, they would finally become worthy. But the closer that impossible standard appears, the further away satisfaction seems to move and no alteration ever feels like it’s enough.

Ava comes at the subject through haunting melodies, intimate storytelling and a delicate dream pop sound, giving the track a sonic setting capable of holding its emotional context. Set up by the strums of acoustic guitar, airy textures swell in the background before giving way to Ava’s enticing vocal leads as she drapes tender melodies over the stripped back arrangement. Developing with the mellow rustle of percussion, soft pulse of bass and bubble of colourful synth elements, the track progresses with lilting rhythmic sway and enchanting melodies carried by blissful vocals, resulting in a heartfelt musical experience that’s moving and memorable in equal measure.

Even when her material enters difficult areas, Ava leaves space for understanding rather than judgement and “alterations” becomes less a portrait of a single experience than an invitation to recognise the pressures that can distort the way people see themselves. While her music has grown in scale, recognition and confidence, its still driven by her ability to turn complicated emotions into songs that feel at once intensely personal and widely understood. “alterations” takes that further, confronting perfectionism and self-worth with a rare combination of openness and empathy

Commenting on the release, she shares, “This is one of the hardest songs I’ve ever written because it’s so honest. I wanted to write about the way insecurity can completely change how you see yourself. Even when everyone else sees you one way, your own mind can convince you you’re never enough. My hope is that people who hear this song feel a little less alone.”

Listen to alterations below

More from Music

---

Editor Picks

---