Review Summary: I Close the Curtains and I Sharpen My Knife, I Learned My Lesson Last Time
American pop singer Ava Max has returned with her sophomore full length release tackling more of the same in terms of lyrical perspectives over the usual thumping rhythms of modern dance pop music. Abusing simplicity and familiarity to reach the widest possible audience is something Max has a knack for, especially considering the variety of dance pop elements that are incorporated into these fourteen tracks. Ranging from modern club beats to glittery 80’s-tinged pop cadences, Max has found a winning formula and it’s understandable why she leans into these cliches considering her popularity and success.
It would be unfair to dismiss how punchy and crisp the production work is on this record with special treatment towards the low end and how those beats reverberate through the speakers. The brightness of the synth melodies contrasts the darker rhythms perfectly along with the occasional muted or lo-fi guitar lick to add a bit of flavor and variety. The twelve different producers that had their hand in the creation of these tracks spared no expense to make a well-polished machine of a record. And while Max’s vocals are certainly treated with that same polish, it’s without a doubt that she is a tremendously talented vocalist. Her rangy delivery mixed with the occasional quiver vibrato to compliment a softer moment musically, her potent belts and mastery of catchy earworm melodies all make for a superstar pop artist.
The songs themselves while not groundbreaking in the slightest, still manage to capture your attention solely for the danceability of the rhythms and the powerful melodies that Max delivers. The bouncy beats that infect most of the songs in the track list are hypnotic in that they are cautiously repetitive but don’t overstay their welcome with most of the songs being sub-three minutes in length. The songs that tend to stray into nostalgic tones like ‘Sleepwalker’, ‘Weapons’ and ‘Cold as Ice’ seem to have the most memorability and impact with melodies drenched in sharp synthesizers and colorful bright compositions. The tracks that feel more like Tik Tok bait and club anthems such as ‘Diamonds and Dancefloors’ and ‘Turn Off the Lights’ feel a bit underwhelming and more like cash-grab clout seeking tunes rather than serious musical efforts.
The lyrical content of this record is as standard as it gets with heavy focus on love, heartbreak, relationships and just having a good time. The depth of the topics is surface at level however there are some genuinely decent lines and bars to go a bit beyond the standard pop tune. The song ‘Weapons’ has an interesting line:
“We're nothing but some stardust and molecules,
Tryna find the light in the darkest rooms”
It’s pleasant, it’s saccharine in its simplicity while still having a bit of extra ‘omph.’ However, the same cannot be said for many of the tracks on here that have a serious inability to get past repeating the name of the song over and over and over again. Creating an earworm is one thing, but laziness does creep in on occasion most noticeably on the opening track ‘Million Dollar Baby’ where the chorus is essentially the repeated use of the phrases “she’s a miracle, oh, oh, oh” and “she’s a million-dollar baby.” I understand that with most popular music that it’s about the lowest common denominator but that doesn’t mean that it’s good by any stretch.
Overall, I did find a good chunk of the record enjoyable and listenable with the occasional song just being a bit too fluffed up for its own sake. I would love to see Max expand further than the standard pop song because she has some serious vocal talent and ability; it would be a waste to just continue the dance-pop trajectory where the life expectancy of artists dwindles with the more attention deficit disorders that are diagnosed. If you’re a fan of Charli XCX’s most recent output or 80’s artists like Madonna or even the group Expose, then you’ll most likely enjoy this to a certain extent.
