REVIEW: Ava Max releases second album 'Diamonds & Dancefloors'

Ever since she burst on the charts in 2018 with the global smash ‘Sweet But Psycho’, America’s Ava Max has delivered us some of the most joyful pop music of the past few years. Across a catalogue that has accumulated over 13 billion global streams, Max has created music that leans into multiple genres from R&B through to Eurodance.

On Friday, she released her second album Diamonds & Dancefloors and it is a masterclass in what Max has excelled at the most over the past five years - euphoric, uplifting, electropop bangers. Heavily influenced by the 1990s Eurodance sound that has fallen from mainstream favour in recent years, Diamonds & Dancefloors is a calling card for its widespread return.

Second single ‘Million Dollar Baby’ kicks off the album. Interpolating LeeAnn Rimes’ classic ‘Can’t Fight The Moonlight’ it sums up what is to come, a pumping beat, sweet melodies and a killer chorus. First single ‘Maybe You’re The Problem’, the third track on the album, is still as intoxicating as it was when first released last year. Quite possibly one of the most underrated songs of 2022, it sweeps you up in a rush of synths and addictive beats while lyrically Max brings a sense of empowerment to break up anthems. Instead of focusing on the pain of breaking up and what went wrong, she turns the spotlight firmly on her ex, refusing to subject herself to guilt over the end of the relationship. “But with you, it's always my fault…and I think you should take a second just to look at your reflection baby, maybe you're the problem,” she sings.

‘Ghost’ is a glistening electronic track that takes inspiration from house music with it’s chugging beat and instrumentation, while ‘Hold Up (Wait A Minute)’ brings a mix of disco and synthpop with it’s glittering post chorus breakdowns. The title track ‘Diamonds & Dancefloors’ is another synthpop delight, but with an added brooding majesty to it, while ‘In The Dark’ sees Max pares things back a notch with a more restrained, trip-hop feel to it.

‘Get Outta My Heart’ drips with late night dancefloor vibes, with a pulsing beat and sections inspired by techno with it’s repeated, distorted vocal runs, while the penultimate track ‘Last Night On Earth’ Is a moody, darker track with a hint of wildly trying to lose yourself in hedonism before everything falls apart. “I'm dancing cause I need it…So let's go / Cause we can't live forever / So show me how to love like it's the last night on Earth” she sings. The theme is continued in the final track, the fourth single ‘Dancing’s Done’. A pop track with rock influences, it looks at what happens at the end of the night when a couple question what’s next. “People like you and me were born to run / So where we going when the dancing's done?” she sings.

Diamonds & Dancefloors is Ava Max at her absolute peak and arguably her best work to date. She has a remarkable talent at bringing together different sub-genres of electronic pop and creating perfect pop music in the process. Working well as an album to both blast at home by yourself or to lose yourself to in a crowded nightclub, it is an adrenaline rush from beginning to end you will want to repeat over and over. No matter where she goes from here, Diamonds & Dancefloors marks Ava Max down as one of the greatest pure pop artists of the 2020s.

Diamonds & Dancefloors is out now via Warner Music Australia. You can buy and stream here.

To keep up with all things Ava Max you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter.