SZA, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, yes, they all have new albums and they’re all amazing. But there’s one that came out recently that people need to watch out for. It is “Diamonds & Dancefloors” by Ava Max. So let’s give a little backstory. Ava Max is a pop singer, and she’s one of the best in the game in my opinion. She debuted her first studio album Heaven & Hell in September of 2020 with a launch party held on the popular game “Roblox”. Considering it was her first album, it sold pretty well and had favorable reviews from critics, and was loved all around the world. Heaven and Hell featured some of 2019 and 2020’s best-hit songs like “Sweet But Psycho”, “So Am I”, and “Kings And Queens”. So with Heaven & Hell, she started strong in the music industry and built a solid fanbase. So in June of 2022, Ava announced the album and the album cover art on social media, and after that, The Today Show.

The album was released on January 27th of 2023, and many critics have given it a very great score. Diamonds & Dancefloors is more of a dance-pop album and as Ava stated in an interview with the Rolling Stone: “I’d Rather Cry And Dance.” meaning that instead of making an emotional ballad, she wanted to take her emotional lyrics and turn it into a dance song. Ava revealed that 2021 was her hardest year because she was working on the album, as she said in an interview with Billboard. Ava revealed Diamonds & Dancefloors is her most emotional album and recording it was sometimes hard.

This album is the best album release of 2023 so far, and it’s just full of essentials that are perfect for dance clubs or parties as they sound. After listening to her first album, it just seems like Ava keeps getting better and better at vocals and producing. I don’t know where the synth ends, and the backing harmonies begin. Although the songwriting on this album is a bit cliche, it shines on some songs like “Maybe You’re the Problem” and “Weapons”. One reason why Ava Max is one of the most critically acclaimed new artists is because she is constantly with her work, and her progress in her music is unmatched by many new artists as it just keeps growing and getting better.

I think Diamonds & Dancefloors are paving the way for future dance-pop albums, it just set a new standard for dance music. I want to know what was in the air in Ava Max’s studio when she made this because some of today’s artists should breathe in that air. Ava Max has to win Best New Artist, any of the pop categories, or any of the electronic categories at next year’s Grammys, she deserves it so much and she’s so underrated. I still think Midnights is a classic, but Diamonds and Dancefloors is an undeniable pop-perfection album that I didn’t even expect coming into 2023.