They lived in a church in France for a year, Max said - where they befriended a woman from Wisconsin, who secured them passports. Her father Paul, a pianist, and mother Andrea, a classically trained opera singer, fled Albania in 1991, after the fall of the country's communist regime, which triggered unrest and economic collapse. "I want to empower people, and inspire people, and inspire youth to reach their dreams."īeyond being the theme of her music, that's also been Max's way of life, inspired by her parents' remarkable story. "I don't aspire to make 100 'Sweet But Psychos.' It's not something I think about in the studio," Max said. Even as she's promoting "Heaven & Hell," she's already moving on to recording other songs, since the touring industry is at a standstill due to the pandemic. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100.īut Max says she doesn't feel any pressure to match or exceed her breakthrough single's success. Of the singles releases so far, "Psycho" excluded, "Kings & Queens" has racked up the most impressive numbers with more than 400 million streams, although it's peaked at No. The soaring "So Am I," co-written by Charlie Puth, is a rousing anthem for individuality ("Do you ever feel like an outcast/You don't have to fit into the format"). And "Naked," co-written by Bonnie McKee - the co-songwriter behind several of Perry's "Teenage Dream" smashes - is dressed up in shimmering retro synths, with Max confessing that her greatest vulnerabilities are hers, and hers alone, to see. Max sings, "No damsel in distress, no need to save me/Once I start breathing fire you can't tame me."
The album's single, "Kings & Queens," co-written and co-produced by RedOne (Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance"), is a regal female empowerment anthem. I feel like making a great pop record is one of the most difficult things." Songs of empowerment and individualityĪva Max has co-written several infectious pop records on "Heaven & Hell," most of them produced and co-written by her "Psycho" collaborator Cirkut, whose past credits include Perry's "Roar," Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" and the Weeknd's "Starboy."
You have to be bold but also be vulnerable, but also be danceable but also have a message. "Making a great pop song, it is a difficult thing. "(Pop) is finally coming back and it's exciting," Max said. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's dance-club banger "Rain on Me" The Weeknd's '80s-synth scorcher "Blinding Lights" Harry Styles' sweet pop-rocker "Watermelon Sugar" Doja Cat's disco-kissed "Say So" BTS' explosive "Dynamite" - they've all topped the Billboard Hot 100 this year. And while hip-hop continues to be at the center of the music universe in the States, upbeat pop is on the upswing, post-"Psycho," during the pandemic. It paid off not just stateside, but in Europe, where the song hit No. "But I always listened to pop music, so why not be unapologetically pop?So I did it, kind of taking a chance." "There was always that temptation to be more R&B," Max continued, to chase radio and playlist trends. It was a dream that started when she was 8 years old, belting songs by singing idols like Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston in the family basement. " 'Sweet But Psycho' came after 15 years trying to make it in the industry," Ava Max, 26, told the Journal Sentinel. The success of "Psycho" was an anomaly in what's been a largely moody, mellow Top 40 landscape post-Lorde, a throwback to the kind of bright, bombastic, sing-to-the-rafters pop that made Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande superstars a decade ago. Two years and 2 billion streams since "Psycho" came out, Max, born Amanda Koci, is gearing up to release her debut full-length album, "Heaven & Hell," on Atlantic Records Friday.
#Sweet but psycho ava max cracked#
Last summer, Ava Max, a little-known newcomer from Milwaukee, foreshadowed a shift in the pop trajectory in the United States when her vivid single "Sweet But Psycho" cracked the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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