Laugh Track by Ava Valianti: Review

by admin April 15, 2025

April 15, 2025

With her latest single Laugh Track, Ava Valianti delivers a hauntingly clever and emotionally raw exploration of identity, self-awareness, and performance trauma. The Newbury-based indie-pop artist, already a two-time New England Music Award nominee and IAMA runner-up, continues her ascent with what may be her most introspective and self-aware track to date. The song begins gently, with mellow, soothing guitar chords that gradually give way to a rich, ambient soundscape. Finger snaps add an intimate, almost conspiratorial rhythm beneath a deep, steady bassline that grounds the track in a dreamy yet grounded vibe. It’s in this sonic atmosphere that Ava’s voice takes flight, thick with emotion, airy with falsetto flourishes, and beautifully vulnerable in its delivery.

What sets Laugh Track apart is its lyrical sophistication. Ava cleverly frames her inner turmoil through the lens of a TV sitcom, echoing The Truman Show’s surveillance themes and How I Met Your Mother‘s awkwardly romantic Ted Mosby. She questions whether she’s the lead in her own life or just a running gag in someone else’s story. It’s a biting commentary on the pressure to be performative in everyday life, especially for young women navigating identity in a hyper-visible world.

Despite the heavy subject matter, there’s a refreshing nonchalance to Ava’s tone. Her transparency begs for connection. That balance between humor and heaviness, self-doubt and defiance, makes Laugh Track not only relatable but quietly revolutionary in its authenticity.

As you can see by now, Ava Valianti is writing herself, in real time, with unapologetic honesty. Laugh Track is both a standout single and a compelling sign of the EP to come.