I’ve spent my entire twenties defending my choices to people who wouldn’t last a day living the way I do. Always showing up with smudged eyeliner ten minutes late, always the friend who says yes to everything and somehow makes it work. I know what people think when they look at me—the girl who can’t get her shit together, always one minor crisis away from a meltdown. And you know what? They’re not wrong. I am that girl sometimes. But I’m also the one who makes the boys pitch tents when I walk in a room, makes the girls clock their boyfriends to see if they’re staring, the one they all gravitate toward at parties because chaos in heels is hotter than perfect will ever be. The organized girls with their color-coded calendars and meal prep Sundays can judge all they want but they’re also watching from the sidelines while I’m out here living. Their lives look flawless and feel empty. Mine looks chaotic and feels fucking alive. Every woman has a hot mess era. Some of us just extended the lease. The mess isn’t the problem—it’s actually kind of hot. Ava Valianti gets this in ‘Hot Mess’, her electro-pop track that turns disaster into currency.
At sixteen, this Massachusetts singer-songwriter has already figured out what takes most of us a decade to learn. Since dropping bubble wrap in 2023, Ava’s racked up 300+ radio spins, three New England Music Award nominations, and a 2025 Boston Music Awards nod. She writes songs that sound like your diary if your diary was brutally honest and set to beats that slap.
The track opens with a comparison that immediately separates the girls from the women: “She has her hair done in a bow / My makeup’s smudged from yesterday.” Ava’s setting up the age-old dynamic—pristine versus lived-in. Guess which one’s more fun to take home? “She gets up early, puts down her phone / I’m logging hours like I’m getting paid.” There’s this sarcastic pride in treating chaos like a career. Because it kind of is. Being a hot mess takes commitment.
Then she twists the knife in the best way: “She’s perfect but she is alone / I’m crazy but my friends have stayed.” Fuck, that line does heavy lifting. The perfect girl has nobody when it matters. The messy girl has a crew. “She lives her life just for the show / I’m real and my home base is center stage.” The audacity to claim center stage while admitting you’re a disaster? That’s not confidence—that’s a fucking power move.
Advertisement
The chorus hits with zero apology: “I’m a hot mess / And I know I’m missing every chance / To progress.” She admits it. “I’m stuck on the loop, I’m stuck on this tune / And I can’t seem to get it all right.” We’ve all been there—same patterns, same mistakes, fully aware and still doing it anyway. “I’d say I work for it but I don’t really try.” The honesty is almost mean. Most people would lie and say they’re trying. Ava just shrugs and admits she’s coasting on natural talent and good looks.
“My shoulder might be cold, at least it’s pretty, yeah.” This line is a whole fucking mood. Maybe I’m emotionally unavailable but have you seen me? I’m a hot mess but at least I’m a cute one. The confidence to acknowledge your flaws and immediately follow it with “but I’m hot though” is the kind of energy that makes men lose their damn minds. Then comes the thesis statement: “Everything is better when you’re messier.”
Ava herself said this track is about “embracing all the parts of myself that aren’t polished or perfect.” She wrote it for anyone who’s felt “too much and not enough at the same time.” That’s the whole contradiction living in every bar—being self-aware enough to know you’re a mess while being confident enough not to give a shit. And honestly? That self-awareness mixed with zero fucks given is sexy as hell.
The second verse goes even harder on the self-defense: “I’m not incompetent / I always have to defend / My choices, I’m confident.” The exhaustion of constantly having to explain yourself to people whose opinions don’t actually matter. “So what if you don’t like it, I take it as a compliment.” Taking someone’s disapproval and weaponizing it into validation? That’s advanced-level mindset mode. That’s the kind of shit that separates the girls who apologize from the ones who double down.
The second verse amps up the defiance. “A little bit of everything all at once”—that’s Ava describing what it feels like to run on pure chaos. Some people need calm and order to function. The rest of us are built for the mess, thriving when everything’s happening at the same damn time. It’s overstimulation as a lifestyle choice, and honestly? It’s hotter than whatever boring shit the perfectly put-together girls are doing.
Advertisement
“Honestly, you’re no fun / If you’re not dying inside a touch.” She’s calling out the boring ones who play it safe, who’ve never taken a risk because they’re terrified of looking stupid. “Stress gives me that adrenaline rush.” Some of us run on bad decisions and chaos like it’s fucking fuel. The girls who have it all together don’t get an adrenaline rush from anything other than new shoes—and that sounds boring as hell.
The production matches the energy—electro-pop that’s punchy without being obnoxious, chaotic without losing control. The beats hit hard while Ava’s vocals stay cool and unbothered. It’s giving “I know I’m a mess and I’m still the hottest girl in the room.” The kind of confidence that makes him want her and fear her at the same time.
The bridge shifts into full performance mode: “Heads will turn and eyes will roll / Hope that you’ve enjoyed the show.” She’s acknowledging the spectacle. People are watching. People are judging. And? “Heads will turn and I just know / They all want what they can’t have, no.” There’s the real truth—all that judgment is just jealousy in a different outfit. They want the freedom to be messy. They’re just too scared to actually do it.
Her debut EP petunias proves this isn’t a one-off. The whole project reads like a coming-of-age story told through tracks that don’t give a damn about being polished. Songs like Middle Ground, January, and Laugh Track all carry this same energy—emotional honesty wrapped in infectious melodies. Ava writes with the kind of rawness that makes you forget she’s still a fucking teenager. She’s processing love, loss, and self-discovery in real time and turning it into anthems that hit harder than most artists twice her age.
‘Hot Mess’ isn’t asking for permission. It’s not even asking for understanding. Ava said it herself—it’s her “reminder that you don’t have to have everything together to take up space or own your moment.” The mess doesn’t disqualify you from being the main character. Sometimes the mess IS what makes you the main character. A hot mess is just a girl with feelings and poor impulse control. And I stand by her. The girls with their lives together are predictable as fuck. The hot mess walking in with yesterday’s makeup and today’s attitude? She’s the one you can’t stop watching.
