NEED TO KNOW
Ava Max is addressing those Lady Gaga comparisons in her new album.
In a snippet leaked online earlier this week of Max’s new album’s title track “Don’t Click Play,” Max, 31, appears to reference Gaga, 39, and how she has been compared to the 14-time Grammy winner.
“She samples, singing Gaga imitations/Can’t kings and queens look good with poker faces?” Max sings in the leaked clip, referring to her song “Kings and Queens” and Gaga’s “Poker Face,” respectively. “But I’m loving myself even if you hate it.”
Other tracks on Max’s upcoming album include her already-released singles “Lovin Myself,” “Lost Your Faith” and “Wet Hot American Summer. “How Can I Dance,” “Take My Call,” “Skin in the Game,” and “World’s Smallest Violin” are also featured on the new record.
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Max, whose real name is Amanda Ava Koci, spoke about online commentary in the past. Although it was “kind of mean,” she found the Gaga comparisons complementary.
“No matter how many haters there are out there, or people who want to bring you down — or people who think I’m a Lady Gaga comparison, which is huuuh-larious,” she told NYLON in 2023.
“Who doesn’t love Gaga?! I can’t help that I look like this. I was born the way I was born too! I can’t help that I’m 5-foot-2 as well,” she continued, also noting that comparisons to other pop stars didn’t stop when she changed the color of her hair.
“Like what do they want me to do, dye my hair black?! I did that, and then they started comparing me to Dua [Lipa]! You can’t win.”
In May, Max spoke to PEOPLE about how she found inspiration for Don’t Click Play — or, rather, where she didn’t.
“I become a hermit, to be honest, when I’m making music,” she explained. “I try not to let too many things influence me because I want it to come from my heart, and I want it to come from the inside of my brain where it’s just, ‘Who am I at the end of the day?’ I don’t want to get too influenced.”
“The thing is, I’m going back to my roots on this album,” she continued. “I feel like there’s a lot of Kings & Queens feeling songs on the album. It’s almost like going back to how I started and my love for pop music, really.”
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Max said she let online comments get to her in the past two years, and “changed who I was for other people.”
“I took away the Max Cut essentially because people in the industry didn’t like it,” she said.
Since the people she had been working with didn’t like it, she removed it. “Then, I realized that it was 1% of the population that didn’t like it, and I loved it. I was like, ‘Wait. The masses love it, and it doesn’t make any sense for me to get rid of something when I feel so strongly about it.’ ”
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The “Sweet But Psycho” singer also teased what fans can expect on her latest record.
“There’s definitely going to be remixes,” Max said when asked about possible collaborations. “There’s going to be some collaborations. Can’t say much right now. I can’t give you all the surprises.”
Max previously released Heaven & Hell and Diamonds & Dancefloors in 2020 and 2023, respectively.
Don’t Click Play will be available to stream on Friday, Aug. 22.
