Cold in tone but naturally seductive as if to extend the duality of the composition itself, Ava Maybee’s lead vocal is reason enough to take a look at the new single “Lay Low” and its accompanying music video this December, but hardly the only feature worth writing home about. Maybee straddles a definitively clubbish groove with ease here, ushering forth a pop harmony that is stealthy enough to sneak up behind us but so piercing once it arrives that trying to evade the venom of its verses is next to impossible. She’s got a lot of attitude for a rookie, but then again, when taking into consideration the generation of artists she’s looking to join on the mainstream end of the spectrum, her eager approach is definitely on par with the best in the business.
WEBSITE: https://avamaybee.com/
The contrast between the dark vibe of the beat and the colorful visual elements in the music video for “Lay Low” is really compelling from the onset forward, and I even think it creates a sense of urban mystique that wouldn’t have been present here otherwise. If there’s one thing that Maybee proves beyond question with the release of this song and its video, it’s that she isn’t interested in being even somewhat the cookie cutter pop princess that some of her peers would just as soon compete to mimic. Hers is a sophisticatedly intricate pop sound that depends far more on witty poeticisms and deep feeling confessions to hit home with fans than it does anything artificial, and that’s obvious even in a casual listening session with this song.
There’s a minor discordance created between the rhythm of the bass and the percussion in this single that makes the chorus all the more pulsating, and whether we’re experiencing it in the music video or the song itself, there’s no arguing this moment’s importance as the climax. “Lay Low” feels a lot more smothering than it actually is because of its detailed aesthetical trappings – all of which are sourced and applied to areas of the composition that many other artists would have ignored entirely for a litany of reasons. It’s definitely a bit experimental, but for someone still getting her feet wet, that’s to be expected in a debut.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Lay-Low/dp/B08KKMRN57
In a year that has thrown an unfair amount of shade at Cali (in the name of building up Texas of all places), Ava Maybee emerges from the underground brilliantly representing her hometown sound with an L.A.-style single in “Lay Low” that listeners around the country would be wise to take a peek at as soon as possible. Maybee doesn’t have to do a lot in this performance to speak volumes about what kind of an artist she is and wants to become in the future here, and although this isn’t the lone indie pop track that I’ve been intrigued by in the month of December, its video is easily one that I’d recommend pop fiends check out before the year has come to an end.
Troy Johnston