Ava Max, courtesy Marilyn Hue.

Pop songstress Ava Max has been on a stratospheric trajectory since her 2020 debut, Heaven & Hell. Since, the Wisconsin-born singer has amassed a whopping 12 billion streams of her music and hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. That staggering success shows no signs of waning with her sophomore effort, Diamonds & Dancefloors.

This 14-track collection is stocked up with anthemic, bouncy, synth-driven pop. All the early indictors were there with early single “Million Dollar Baby,” a memorable upbeat track that delivers on the dance floor promise of the record’s name. Max’s “muh-muh-muh-miracle” enunciation evokes Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.”

The Gaga reference point isn’t too far afield on tracks like “Sleepwalker,” which not only keeps up the rousing pace but also features a blazing layered synth and guitar solo.

Max’s vocal tone is unique, a powerful voice with just a hint of smokiness. “Maybe You’re the Problem” leans on synth and percussive loops with an ’80s bombastic pop rock feel. “With you it’s always my fault/ And your short fuse/ Just like a time bomb,” Max sings about a kiss-off relationship gone wrong.

“Ghost” takes things right back to the heart of the dance floor. It’s a beat-forward high-energy track with a synth-packed sound that recalls ’90s pop. Each passing song has its own personality and life that gives the album variety spanning a wide spectrum of dance pop. “Hold Up, Wait a Minute” keeps things in the club while bringing quiet vocal confidence of like, say, Ariana Grande or Kelly Clarkson but with an added funk influence. Soaring tracks like “Weapons” bring an infectious chorus with an uplifting message. The album reaches its halfway point without a pause for a breath of air.

The tempos stay quick and the rhythms heavy as the record moves onto the title track. “Diamonds and dance floors in every dream/ I miss the music surrounding me/ Drown me in glitter/ Glitter and gold/ That’s all I ask for,” Max sings on the ode to the setting for which this album was written.

The train keeps rolling on the fittingly dark melodies of “In the Dark.” While not even in the neighborhood of a ballad, it has a soft-meets-heavy clash that keeps it jumpy and pulsing with its vocal intensity. Ava Max channels Dua Lipa on “Turn Off the Lights,” which feels like “Break My Heart” played by Daft Punk. “One of Us” leaves space for ethereal and atmospheric sound while still managing to keep the energy flowing. “Get Outta My Heart” starts as a brooding pop cut about love gone sideways that explodes into an expansive synth soundscape in the chorus. Even the tracks with the heaviest lyrical content still hit with the same sparkling brilliance that give the record a natural flow and uniform personality.

“Cold As Ice” is as intricate as it is high-flying with an ’80s synth styling that builds the foundation. While it clocks in a just a little over two minutes, it’s actually one of the record’s more memorable moments. It even has a little bit of a slick alt-pop (think The Weeknd) feel to it. If you expected the album might slow a little, you’d be very wrong, as things close out with a pair of rousing anthems in “Last Night on Earth” and “Dancing’s Done.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.