“And I love anything Shakira-she puts me in a good mood. “I love SAINt JHN’s ‘Roses’-that song always puts me in a good mood,” says Max. Max knows a studio session is going well when “we’re all dancing and we keep wanting to replay it.” Many of her favorite songs give her that same feeling. He was that person, and everything changed when I met him because he really let me be myself.” When I came out to LA a while ago it was very hard to find someone who actually let me be creative in the studio. That’s what I struggled to find growing up. I feel like you really need someone like that. “Ever since I started working with him, he’s really let me write about what I want to write about and be who I want to be. Max-born Amanda Koci-worked with her longtime producer Cirkut to craft the record’s fifteen songs. It has to be something I love and am proud of.” “I make it thinking, is this something I love? Do I want to hear this blaring on my car speakers? If so, yes, let’s do it. “I’m not trying to make my music thinking about how it will stream or perform,” Max said last year. “Tell me if it’s safe to bare my soul / I wanna show you my deepest secrets / I think I’m ready to be exposed / I want you watching me.” “Well, you can take off all my clothes / And never see me naked,” Max sings in “Naked,” another standout track. Other album highlights include “OMG What’s Happening,” “Born to the Night,” “Take You to Hell,” and “Belladonna.” The album includes Max’s breakout singles “Sweet But Psycho,” “Kings & Queens,” and “Who’s Laughing Now,” but Max’s mid-tempo bops are just as catchy as her uptempo bangers. We are in relationships that feel like heaven and hell, so I really couldn’t think of a better title.” I just wanted to make it a duality, ‘cause I feel like we all face challenges and dualities on a day-to-day basis. “Especially after putting it in ‘Torn,’ in the bridge it says ‘I’m torn between heaven and hell.’ ‘Torn’ is actually purgatory, because side A is heaven and side B is hell. “I’ve had this title in my head for two years, and I’ve wanted it to be the title for a long time,” Max told me over the phone recently. Ava Max has always been candid about two things: her ambitions (“We’re bringing pop back,” she told Vanity Fair last year) and her influences (“I grew up listening to Mariah Carey and a lot of pop divas like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears and Beyoncé,” she told POPDUST earlier this year).īut the Los Angeles pop artist’s explosive debut album, Heaven & Hell, feels most indebted to Lady Gaga, whom Max has previously called “a legend,” “untouchable to me,” “iconic,” and “incredible.”