You Want Love – Ava Renn (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I’m going to start with the obvious… man, Ava Renn has an amazing voice, one that blends rock power with a vibrato-infused arabesque and no small amount of vulnerability. That’s a pretty good start, I reckon.

But once you have stopped being captivated by her voice (which, to be fair, might never happen), you can turn your attention to the music it dances over: a raw, background throb of industrial textures and grinding, gritty tones. Beats seem to pummel as much as they propel, guitars gnash and gnaw, and basslines drop depth-charge notes, but none of it gets in the way of those amazing vocals.

And then, once you feel you have got the measure of this blend of dark, pop-aware infectiousness and abrasive rock groove, she flips the script and wanders into a spaciousness that, but for a chiming piano, would be described as a cappella before cranking up the machine again and heading for the finish line bigger and more bombastically than ever.

‘You Want Love’ is a fantastic song, one that drives into the darkest depths of rock and roll without once losing sight of infectiousness and accessibility.

Incendiary rock music that even the more mainstream pop-pickers will like? Pop music driven over the edge of the abyss and into the industrial mincing machine? Take your pick! Either way, it’s flippin great.

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