Pop singer Ava Max has been teasing the long-awaited follow-up to her sophomore album Diamonds & Dancefloors over the past year with a string of one-off singles amid management and musical changes. Max has emerged with her third studio album Don’t Click Play, and it represents a clean break in her career after parting ways with longtime producer Cirkut and co-writer Madison Love.

“[I] had time to reset and figure out what I really wanted for this next album. I didn’t want to just put an album together and put it out,” she told Audacy in December. “[It] has slower songs, some pop, rock, [and] country records that the fans have never heard from me. And a couple of records that I think are the best records I’ve ever made in my entire life, which I’m very excited about that for people to hear.”

Though Max in many ways had to start fresh, her pop sensibilities shine through with the help of a new crop of collaborators led by producers Pink Slip and Inverness. The result: An album that remains quintessentially Ava Max despite increased sonic exploration.

“I made this album because I wanted to prove that I can make the album of my dreams without my last collaborators,” she told Rolling Stone. “A lot of people thought I couldn’t make another pop song without my last collaborators.”

Moving forward, Max is taking the lessons of the road to the album’s creation and shutting out outside voices who try to steer her away from her creative instincts.

“[I learned] don’t let people tell me what I like and don’t like. Don’t let people persuade me into thinking I like something. What I want to do works and it makes sense and resonates. I don’t want to listen to anyone else anymore,” she said. “I want to listen to my own gut because that’s what guided me towards ‘Sweet but Psycho’ in the beginning. I think I’m going back to my roots and not caring again.”

“I’m no longer afraid. And I don’t care what anyone thinks about me anymore,” she added. “I’ve let my hair down. Officially.”

A tour to support Don’t Click Play is in the works after being postponed earlier this year.