Midwest-raised, North Carolina-based singer-songwriter ava rose returns with her sophomore album, ‘confessions, dreams, & unresolved feelings’. Released in the final days of October, this ten-track collection is an intimate and often breathtaking exploration of emotional healing, identity, and, as the artist puts it, a summarisation of a "most recent chapter of closing open wounds and finding more of the person I feel I'm meant to be."
Following on from 2023’s ‘growing pains’, this project cements ava’s place in the burgeoning folk-pop arena, drawing comparisons to the compelling lyricism of James Bay and Dean Lewis alongside the acoustic warmth of acts like Maggie Rogers and Wild Rivers. Her style blends authentic acoustic pop with a deeply personal singer/songwriter flavour, a combination she holds true to throughout the album.
The album opens with a gentle yet immediate energy on tracks like ‘born to dream’ and ‘peach tree’. These songs instantly set the tone with their blossoming melodies and rolling acoustic arrangements, allowing ava’s enchanting, confessional vocal delivery to shine. She possesses an almost poetic quality, navigating complex emotions with an unflinching honesty that feels timeless.
‘confessions, dreams, & unresolved feelings’ is an album of varied yet cohesive shades. It moves effortlessly between undeniably vulnerable folk moments, such as the evocative ‘rose petal’, where the line “I always wanted to be somebody special” lands with profound impact, and the wistful, piano-based refrain of ‘tell the dogs’. The tracks ‘needle gun’ and ‘fading slowly’ are a perfect pairing that truly embodies ava’s unique acoustic pop style.
The emotional peak, however, is arguably reached on ‘michigan avenue’. It’s here that ava delivers some of her most poignant lyrics, laying bare retroactive realisations with lines like: “I wasn’t the person that could give you what you needed, thought I could become her, but we learnt that was wrong, untapped potential falling short of where I thought that we would go…” This type of self-reflection is the backbone of the project—a journey of personal discovery and retroactive realisations that asks the questions we are often too afraid to voice ourselves.
This is more than just acoustic pop; it's a therapeutic and expressive glimpse into ava rose's world, proving she's writing the kind of music your heart didn’t know it needed. You can stream the new album above, and for more from ava, be sure to connect on Instagram and TikTok.
