The consistency that Ava Valianti releases with should be studied by music industry professionals worldwide. Not only does she release high quality songs regularly, but they are all intentionally written, brilliantly produced, and brick-by-brick building her brand identity as an artist.
Today’s release is Birthday Cake. It opens with siren-like vocalizations, astral repeating notes and an immersive synthscape, expanding with a sublime guitar performance as Ava shares the vulnerable and situational lyrics, “Sitting in despair, wrapping paper everywhere, lying on the floor waiting for things to change, out of body, feeling strange, ringing in my head, all these sweat and tears I’ve bled, every year gets blown away with just one breath, and what have I got left?”
Before we literally start crying, let’s take a moment for her poetic prowess. Ava is an exceptionally gifted writer and this era certainly shows a more emotional side of her. Speaking on what inspired the release, the rising star confesses, “I love my birthday. I’m the person who makes a whole week out of it. But when I sat down to write this song, I thought – what if I hated my birthday?”
She continues, “Birthday Cake became this exaggerated, heightened version of that feeling. It’s about sitting in the aftermath of something – a relationship, a year, a version of yourself – and realizing you were so hopeful not that long ago.”
We love how philosophical she is. This song is hugely relatable to people everywhere. Society has taught us that ageing is a bad thing, when it is only natural. That said, Ava continues, “Even though the song sounds intense, it’s not really about hating your birthday. It’s about that specific kind of loneliness that sneaks up on you during milestones. When everyone’s gone and it’s quiet and you’re left with the ghost of what you thought your life would look like by now.”
Overall, Birthday Cake poignantly captures the feeling of realizing that what we invest energy in can mean far less than what we believed, leaving us alone to face the aftermath. It would be perfect for a movie like Eighth Grade, Lady Bird, and The Worst Person in the World to soundtrack moments of introspective reckoning with identity, time and unmet expectations.
We are enamoured by the high emotional quotient of the song, and Ava’s range is so enchanting. Her delicate vocals soar in minor keys that fans of Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey will really be able to connect with. It feels ethereal and orchestral at the same time.
As you can tell, we are in awe, and have added Birthday Cake to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS playlist, whilst we continue to stream Ava Valianti’s incredible growing discography, including Sophomore Slump, and Deep Fuchsia.