What is there to say about Ava Valianti that I haven’t already said? Quite a lot, it turns out, now that I’ve had a listen to her second EP, Sophomore Slump.
By Graeme Smith
I first connected with Valianti in 2024, when she was fourteen years old and already being hotly tipped. Her single January showed how remarkable a talent she was.
Two years on and that talent has grown. Now sixteen, she is showing maturity well beyond her years. The title of her second EP shows a great deal of self-awareness – The ‘sophomore slump,’ that feeling that we can never deliver a follow-up as great as our debut. Valianti approaches the record with self-deprecation and it’s all the better for it.
“[Debut EP] Petunias was where I first started to figure out how to say things honestly, but Sophomore Slump leans into something louder and more guitar-driven,” says Valianti about the record.
While the sound has developed the honesty hasn’t been lost. This EP is full of stories about those awkward in-between years, encountering certain emotions for the first time and dealing with them while working out your place in the world. As the artist puts it, the record is about how it “feels like to grow up in real time, with all the pressure and messiness and self-awareness that comes with it.” Valianti approaches it all poetically and the richness developing in her vocals add weight to the topics.
The brand of rock she’s chosen for the EP ranges from the folky to the psychedelic. It’s reminiscent of ‘90s artists like Sheryl Crow. Valianti isn’t afraid to mix things up and try the unexpected. The brassy highlights of The Conversation, for instance, keep things interesting as the EP reaches its midpoint.
Opening track Deep Fuchsia was a standout because of the character of Valianti’s voice there. Birthday Cake stayed with me too through its raw and confessional lyrics. All six tracks on the EP deserve a mention, really, such is the craft that’s gone into this short and sweet collection.
Ava Valianti’s new EP is anything but a slump. It’s a build on a sound she’s been developing for years and will no doubt continue to develop. I am extremely excited by her as an artist. She epitomises the phrase ‘one to watch.’
If you want to keep up to date with what she’s doing, you can by following her on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and X.
Sophomore Slump is out now, and you can listen to it below.