Pushing and shoving forth from the darkness with a very disciplined beat, the somber “worst of times” from Ava Della Pietra starts with minimal fireworks, but if given enough time, listeners will find that this stately new pop single yields far more lustiness than its opening bars could ever account for. Instrumentally, “worst of times” is one of the simplest pop songs I’ve had the chance to take a look at in the summer season thus far; other than its melodic foundations and an exceptionally mild percussive accent that only enters the picture every so often, the vocalist and her words are the only agents of evocation in this mix. That said, there’s not a dull moment to behold here, and pop fans are likely to be quite pleased with what this surging player has concocted in the name of true creativity.

The tempo is a reserved one for this single, but it works to the benefit of both the audience and the artists in giving us maximum time and space to understand their commanding presence in the track and all of the emotion that it collectively contains. A lot of alternative pop songwriters have been staying away from conservative compositional concepts in 2023, and after listening to “worst of times,” I have to wonder why. Della Pietra isn’t being stingy with her use of melodicism in this piece, but in working with less weaponry she’s able to efficiently get into the guts of the song without a lot of bombast getting in the way. That’s essential to keeping our interest and establishing a sound not automatically relegated to the ‘crossover’ section.

Ava Della Pietra and her peers are very different singers when looking at the broader FM spectrum, but in “worst of times” it’s easy for me to understand why she wanted to go the route she did with this kind of piece. There are several different avenues through which she could deconstruct the chorus as we reach the fever pitch of the song, but by handing off the lead from one element to the other as everything is about to slip into oblivion, it feels so much more symbolic and in sync with the style of the narrative. I love the rock-minded thinking that went into the approach in this regard, and it would be criminal of Della Pietra not to bring it back into the studio for another go-round in the future (much as the same could be said for the producers of this track as well).

“worst of times” doesn’t reinvent the wheel for the pop music model, but for those of us who pride ourselves on being discriminating fans of the genre, it’s a puritan cocktail that is certain to leave listeners intoxicated this June. Ava Della Pietra is one of many independent artists who haven’t formed any sort of a connection to the mainstream mundane, and yet I wouldn’t be surprised if there were calls for her to do as much as “worst of times” wins her a fan base. I’ll be keeping her on my radar, and if you dig pop as much as I do, you should do the same.

Garth Thomas