Ava Joe has announced her new EP, Big Beautiful Mess, a love letter to hedonism and a manifesto for life, is set for release on April 10th. And to celebrate, Ava Joe has offered a taste of what awaits with new single ‘Am I A Dreamer’ – a lullaby-like unravelling of longing and a bittersweet reminder to hold onto our youth before it slips through our fingers.
Jalen Ngonda personally selected Ava Joe to support him on his UK tour last year, where she performed to a sold-out crowd at the Eventim Apollo in London. She now begins 2026 as one of The Great Escape’s First Fifty. Ava Joe’s star has been in rapid ascent since she arrived earlier this year with her luminous debut EP Try Me – an invitation as tempting as any. Rarely has hard-won wisdom been imparted with such lightness of touch; it attracted over a million streams, with videos of her performances at All Points East and SXSW London amassing eight-figure views. Once heard, not forgotten.
Try Me explores deeply personal reflections on deadbeat partners (‘Eleanor Close’), coercive control (‘Polly Pocket’) and self-destructive tendencies (‘Try Me’) through nostalgic soul-pop, laced with sensuous vocals. With her Big Beautiful Mess EP, she’s purposely leaning into lightness. Working with Craigie Dodds (Ezra Collective, Yasmin Lacey) and Dom Valentino (Nectar Woode, Nia Smith), she pursued songwriting, which feels “more youthful, fun and free”. The forerunning title track is an embodiment of the EP’s spirit.
‘Am I A Dreamer’ – co-written by Eddie George, aka Woody, one of BBC Introducing’s artists of the year – begins with the call to arms, “We’re never gonna be this young again”, and quickly unravels into an examination of her own people-pleasing tendencies. Complete with damning admissions like “I just want to be used”, Ava Joe holds a mirror up to reveal a reflection that is sometimes uncomfortable but always truthful. With its undulating guitars and swooning vocal harmonies, it’s a song steeped in longing – an atmosphere that permeates so much of the EP itself, from the sweeping acoustic-pop of ‘Deja Vu Hotel’ and ‘Lost In The Woods’ swirling dream-pop to the woozy, Lana Del Rey-esque dramatics of ‘Sunkissed’.
Speaking about the track, which is brought to life with an otherworldly music video, Ava Joe said, “‘Am I A Dreamer’ is for the sensitive souls, for the deep feelers, thinkers and lovers. It’s about those moments that you know you’ll ache for forever, even whilst you’re living them. Inspired by an almost-holiday romance that never bloomed, it reminded me of all the people and moments I have ever missed or yearned for in my life. It’s about the quiet heartbreak of knowing something so beautiful isn’t yours to keep. The universal feeling of grieving a moment before it’s gone.”
Ava Joe’s music is a meditation on matters of the heart: power, lust, chaos and heartbreak. Already, her particular magic has been championed by The Line of Best Fit, HUNGER, Wonderland, Notion and more. From an early age, receiving a karaoke machine at Christmas sparked her love of singing, and the 23-year-old singer has nurtured her love of confessional storytelling through her music ever since. Coming up through the London gig circuit and performing at venues such as Ram Jam Records and Mascara Bar in Dalston, she has a palpable connection with her audience.
With the release of the Big Beautiful Mess EP, Ava Joe is stepping into her greatest artistic era to date, strengthened by the wisdom gained from her experiences of femininity and womanhood in the modern world.
Pre-save Ava Joe’s Big Beautiful Mess now.
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