Ava Valianti is an unusual artist at making her weaknesses light, and Hot Mess might be the best demonstration of this ability to date. The sixteen-year-old Newbury, Massachusetts, singer-songwriter spins the standard maze of self-doubt, making it wonderfully liberating, a song that scoffs perfection and draws strength in the fissures.
The voice of Ava is what initially attracts you. Her delivery is so quiet and confident, yet delicate, as a steady hand in the midst of emotional tumult. She is singing in a manner that gets you nearer, as though she is telling you a secret and not even a singer, but rather, every note falls with a natural sincerity.
The song strikes a balance between intimacy and motion in a very impressive way. Delicate textures run against the uneven, distorted scenes, producing a sound environment that looks like disorder in a state of coexistence. It is easy to listen to the melody, which is heard long after the song is finished, although each repetition provides new nuances of emotion.
Hot Mess is all about a loving acceptance of human vulnerability. Ava writes in a light-hearted, but genuine, manner in that we all feel like we are too much and not enough at the same time, but these are not things to be ashamed of. Here there is humour, though it does not diminish the emotional veracity of the song.
Ava Valianti is very emotionally mature as a young person. She realises that being real does not mean knowing everything, it is being in the uncertainty and living it. Hot Mess is a step towards a good direction in her developing catalogue, and it proves her to be a worthy of note artist.
