Ava Max is redrawing the boundaries around what she allows to get under her skin on her new single, “Lovin Myself.” The record, which will appear on her third studio album, Don’t Click Play, out Aug. 22, finds the singer shifting her time, attention, and energy toward herself to strip the power away from outside forces that can make the highs of her life feel like flying, but the lows feel like the darkest depths.
“This song came from a moment where I finally realized I didn’t need anyone else’s validation to feel whole,” Max tells Rolling Stone in an exclusive statement. “I’ve been through a lot of phases in my career, highs, lows, public scrutiny, private growth, and through all of that, I started to understand that the most important relationship I’ll ever have is the one I have with myself. The lyrics really sum up where I’m at emotionally and creatively right now.”
“Lovin Myself is the most honest I’ve been in a song in a long time,” Max adds. “It came out of a period where I was really learning how to stand on my own, not just as an artist, but as a person. I realized that loving yourself isn’t some cliché, it’s a survival skill. This song is about choosing yourself, not in a selfish way, but in a healing way. I wanted it to feel like an anthem for anyone who’s learning to be their own anchor.”
Trending Stories
The single arrives alongside an energetic, liberating music video directed by Claire Arnold. In the clip, Max struts through the streets, lounges on a rooftop, and cranks up her own music on the stereo. “I wanted the video to feel like a celebration of self,” she says. “I wanted it to be bold, bright, and joyful! I’m dancing in the streets and on rooftops because that’s what it feels like when you finally stop living for other people’s expectations and start honoring yourself.”
Max found a strong collaborative partner in Arnold, who she says “understood that this wasn’t just a music video, it was a statement about what it looks like to own your power unapologetically!” Being in sync for the video brought Max to a breakthrough while shooting on the rooftop. “I had this moment where I looked out over the city and thought, ‘This is it, this is what freedom feels like,’” she says. “That energy is what I want people to feel when they hear this song. It’s not just about loving who you are when everything’s going right. It’s about loving yourself no matter what.”
