Ava Della Pietra has proven herself a talented and prolific musical force in a short time. She’s been recording her original material since the age of ten years old and has amassed an impressive 130 songs plus since she began composing in earnest. She brings a wide array of talents to each new track, her multi-instrumental skills and Broadway training reinforcing her excellence, and the latest product of this impressive run is a single entitled “talk it out.” It rates among the best originals she’s yet penned and should remain a mainstay of her live performances for many years to come.
There’s a bevy of reasons why. Others may disagree, but I believe that the energy “talk it out” generates is the biggest one. It doesn’t manifest that brio from the beginning. I love how Della Pietra, instead, sees potential compelling drama in both the lyrics and arrangement alike and the latter brings that to life with vivid results. I knew this song would pack an inevitable punch when I first heard the opening minute – there’s no way she’s going to sustain an entire track like this, I thought, and sure enough, she blows out the doors with the first chorus.
Hearing her take flight is one of the song’s most glorious moments. I haven’t heard many pop singers who come across as ferocious or determined as she does during the chorus for “talk it out” and it suggests to me that the song’s words are culled from personal experience. It doesn’t have to be so, however – Della Pietra definitely has a powerhouse imagination, and the song’s subject may be something she witnessed happen to someone in her orbit other than herself.
The instruments provide her with excellent foils for her voice. The guitar, especially, is integral to the body of the song as it fills out the arrangement in ways that neither the percussion nor keyboards/synthesizers can. Ava applies a small amount of post-production effects to the arrangement without ever supplying the cut with too much window dressing.
Whatever window dressing we may find in this overall presentation comes from the song’s music video. It isn’t meaningless, however. The promo clip for “talk it out” matches the physicality of the song while also standing on its own as a fully realized and meaningful visual work. She doesn’t weigh the video down with needless frills and it shares the same matter of fact, straight to the point demeanor of the song and her performance.
It comes together to make for one hell of a ride. Ava Della Pietra takes the proverbial bull by the horns with her new single and plants her flag even deeper as one of the major pop talents working today. She’s teetering on the cusp of global mainstream fame, and I believe a track the caliber of “talk it out” may be what pushes her higher into rarefied air. There’s no doubt in my mind she deserves to be there.
“talk it out” also shows that she’s likely to thrive at a higher level than most for many years to come.
Chadwick Easton