“Clean My Room,” Ava Valianti‘s new single, is not like her other songs. Teenage stress is like having a bunch of clothes on the floor that you just can not bring yourself to put away.
It’s a song that admits, with a shrug and a sigh, that sometimes things are just a mess. And in that admission, it finds a strange and beautiful kind of power.
At just sixteen, Valianti has a voice that feels like it’s been around for a while, like it’s seen some things.
Since her first album in 2023, the singer-songwriter from Massachusetts has been slowly making a name for herself. “Clean My Room” is a sure step forward.
The track, her eighth single, is a preview of her debut EP, which is slated for release this fall. It’s a smart move, dropping a song this strong ahead of a larger project. It’s a statement of intent, a declaration that she’s not here to play it safe.
The song opens with a simple, almost hesitant, melody. Valianti’s vocals are front and center, intimate and confessional. She’s not singing to a stadium; she’s singing to you, from the other side of a bedroom door.
The words are a bunch of small, clear details that together paint a lively picture of a room and a life that are in chaos. At least for a short time, it is a place where you can block out the outside world with all its tasks and demands.
The song’s central idea, the act of cleaning a room, becomes a metaphor for the much larger, much more daunting task of sorting out your own head.
As the song progresses, it builds. The instrumentation swells, the vocals become more layered, more insistent.
It’s a slow burn, a gradual crescendo that mirrors the way that small anxieties can build into something overwhelming.
But there’s a release in that climax, a sense of catharsis. It’s the feeling of finally letting go, of admitting that you don’t have it all figured out. And in that moment of surrender, there’s a kind of freedom.
Valianti has said that the song comes from a “really personal place,” and you can hear that in every note. It’s a song about the pressure to be perfect, to present a flawless façade to the world.
But it’s also a song about the beauty of imperfection, the power of embracing the mess. It’s a reminder that it’s okay to not be okay, that it’s okay to have a messy room and a messy life.
It’s a message that will resonate with anyone who’s ever felt the weight of expectation, anyone who’s ever longed for a space where they can just be themselves, in all their messy glory.
The comparisons to artists like Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey are easy to make, and not entirely inaccurate. There’s a similar sense of introspection, a willingness to explore the darker corners of the human experience. But Valianti has a voice that is distinctly her own.
There’s a warmth to her music, a sense of hope that shines through even in the darkest moments. She’s not just a chronicler of teenage angst; she’s a storyteller, a poet of the everyday. She finds the extraordinary in the ordinary, the profound in the mundane.
‘Clean My Room’ is a song that will stay with you long after the final note has faded. It’s a song that will make you feel seen, understood.
It’s a song that will make you want to go to your own room, close the door, and just be. And in a world that is constantly demanding our attention, our performance, our perfection, that is a powerful thing indeed.
You should keep an eye on Ava Valianti as an artist. Her voice is only going to get stronger. We can tell that her first EP will be great based on the song “Clean My Room.”
It is an honest, messy, and ultimately hopeful look at growing up, which can be beautiful, scary, and exciting.
