We are delighted to share some big news from talented rising artist Rén Avisse, who exclusively reveals the album artwork, tracklist and release date of his brand new studio album Pretty Boy Problems.
In our interview, Rén discusses the inspiration behind his most personal project to date, the story woven throughout its 18 tracks, collaborating with Luke Vella on Taste, and how his hometown of Yerevan continues to shape his creativity. He also reflects on the evolution of his artistry, the importance of the album format in today’s music industry, the role of AI in music, and his ambitions to bring Pretty Boy Problems to physical formats in the future.
Read our interview with Rén below. Connect with Rén here.
‘Pretty Boy Problems’
Can you give us a little insight into what’s coming up for you musically?
I’ve actually been waiting for this interview because I wanted to reveal this here first. I recently finished working on my new album, and I can officially say that the album is 100% complete.
Today, I’m revealing the name of the album, the artwork, and the release date. The new album is called Pretty Boy Problems, and it will be released on August 21st.
This is a completely new era for me. It feels different from my previous projects because it’s darker, more personal, and, in many ways, more beautiful. I feel like this project represents a new level of honesty and growth as an artist.
The album will contain 18 songs, and every track is an important part of the story I want to tell. I wanted to create a complete experience where listeners can follow the emotions and journey from the first song to the last.
I decided to reveal this information now because your message really inspired me. I was very happy to see that you were interested in my story, and I thought it would be special to share this moment together.
Can you delve into the concept and inspiration behind the new project?
The main idea behind Pretty Boy Problems is the story of love and everything that can happen inside relationships.
The title might sound like it is only about attractive people, but the meaning is much deeper. The word Pretty is not only about appearance. For me, it represents knowing your worth, accepting yourself, and remembering that your beauty and value do not disappear because someone hurts you or because life becomes difficult.
The album explores the idea that even if you are beautiful, confident, successful, intelligent, or someone who seems to have everything together, you can still experience pain, jealousy, betrayal, manipulation, and heartbreak.
Sometimes people think that problems happen because they are not good enough, not beautiful enough, or not successful enough. But the truth is that difficulties can happen to anyone.
This album was inspired by my own experiences with relationships and situationships. At first, everything can feel perfect and beautiful, but over time, different emotions start appearing: jealousy, insecurity, desire, misunderstandings, and the fear of losing someone.
The album touches on themes like love, first attraction, temptation, cheating, gaslighting, manipulation, healing, and moving on.
The biggest message I want listeners to take from this project is that you should never lose yourself because of another person. No matter what happens in your life, you have to continue loving yourself first.
You recently dropped the single Taste with Luke Vella. How did that collaboration come about, and what does the track mean to you?
The collaboration happened in a very natural way. One day, I was listening to new artists on Spotify, and I discovered Luke’s music. My first thought was: “I need to create something with this person.”
Honestly, I didn’t expect the answer to be positive, but I reached out to him on Instagram and asked if he would be interested in creating something together. He replied positively and was excited about the idea.
I already had the demo version of Taste for a long time. Originally, it was supposed to be a solo track, but when I heard Luke’s music and his style, I realized that his energy would fit the song perfectly.
I sent him the demo, he loved it, and we decided to turn it into a collaboration.
The process was challenging because we worked remotely. He was in London and I was in Yerevan, but we managed to create something special.
I’m honestly very impressed by his part. I think it is one of the strongest songs on the album, which is why it became the lead single.
Taste has a very important role in the story of the album because it represents the beginning of the relationship: the first attraction, the excitement, and the moment before everything becomes complicated.
Your work has a really distinct visual identity that complements the music perfectly. What’s the visual mood board for the new project?
The visual world of Pretty Boy Problems is like the feeling after a party ends.
It is that moment when all the noise disappears, you are alone with your thoughts, and everything suddenly becomes quiet.
The album artwork represents this feeling: being alone in a simple retro kitchen after all the chaos, reflecting on everything that happened and everything you have been through.
I was heavily inspired by the 2000s era, especially 2000s pop culture, movies, and R&B aesthetics. I wanted to play with that nostalgia and bring something familiar but still personal.
Compared to my previous artworks, which were mostly based around darker colors and black tones, this project has more bright details and contrast. The red kitchen, for example, creates a very specific feeling. It is warm, nostalgic, but also slightly lonely.
For me, this album is almost like therapy after the drama of life. It is that moment when you are finally alone, thinking about everything that happened, understanding your emotions, and starting to heal.
Musical Journey
You’ve released the albums Provocateur and Elevated. What do these bodies of work mean to you?
Every album represents a different version of me and a different chapter of my life.
Before Provocateur, I created an album called étude, which was a very personal and emotionally heavy project. It was a darker R&B album that reflected many of my internal struggles at that time.
Eventually, I decided to remove étude from all platforms because I realized that, even though it was honest and very personal, it didn’t fully represent what I wanted to communicate to my audience. It was an important part of my journey, but sonically and artistically, it wasn’t the direction I wanted to continue in.
That project helped me understand myself better and understand what kind of artist I wanted to become.
Then came Provocateur, which became a healing process for me. Creating that album was almost like therapy. It was about confidence, self-expression, and allowing myself to be more open and fearless.
The idea behind Provocateur was not about provoking people just for attention. It was about showing my personality, embracing my emotions, and not being afraid of how people would react.
After that came Elevated, which is probably my favourite project I have created.
Every song on that album represents something from my life. It was a very experimental project where I explored many different sounds: from ballads and dance R&B to pop, hip-hop, electronic influences, and even Brazilian-inspired sounds.
Some people might see it as a chaotic album because there are many different styles, but that was exactly the point. I wanted to completely open myself as an artist and show that I’m not afraid to experiment.
Elevated was the moment where I really allowed myself to explore every side of my creativity.
How does the latest project develop your sound and artistry from your previous albums?
Pretty Boy Problems started from one song.
After experiencing everything that inspired this album, I wrote a song and realized that there was a much bigger story behind it. I understood that I didn’t just want to talk about my own experience. I wanted to create something that people could see themselves in.
The main message of the album is that everyone has problems, no matter how beautiful, successful, or confident they seem. The important thing is not losing yourself and remembering your own worth.
Musically, this album is darker and closer to the sounds that inspired me growing up.
I wanted to return to the music I loved from the 2000s: R&B, dance R&B, pop, hip-hop, and dark pop. These sounds shaped me as an artist.
Unlike Elevated, where I explored many different genres and experimented with different styles, this time I wanted to create a more focused and cohesive world.
I wanted every song to feel like it belongs to the same story.
The album contains 18 tracks, and every song has its own place in the journey.
Musical Passions and Influences
I’d love to find out a little more about your home of Yerevan and how it influences the inspiration behind your music.
Yerevan has a huge influence on my creativity and the way I write music.
I write many of my songs while walking around the city. There are so many memories, emotions, and important moments connected to the streets of Yerevan, and naturally, they become part of my music.
I love how Yerevan combines the old and the new. It has this unique atmosphere where historical architecture, retro feelings, modern culture, cafés, and nightlife all exist together.
One place I especially love is Saryan Street. I always recommend people who visit Yerevan to walk there because I think it represents the city perfectly. One side feels nostalgic and classic, while the other side feels modern, creative, and full of life with bars, cafés, and different places where people gather.
Many important moments in my life happened in Yerevan, and I think the city is always somewhere in the background of my stories and my songs.
When did you first discover your passion for music?
I think my love for music started when I was very young.
I grew up watching Nickelodeon shows and Disney musicals, and that was the moment when I discovered artists and performers who made me dream about creating my own music.
Ariana Grande became one of my biggest inspirations. Watching those shows made me realize that I wanted to sing, perform, write songs, and create my own artistic world.
I even dreamed about attending a school like Hollywood Arts from Victorious: singing, dancing, and performing in the hallways.
My sister used to dance, and we would create small performances together and show them to our family. Looking back, I think those moments were the beginning of my love for performing and storytelling through music.
Which artists have been inspiring you recently?
Ariana Grande has always been my biggest inspiration and probably always will be.
Recently, I’ve been very inspired by artists like Tate McRae, Sabrina Carpenter, and Dua Lipa. I really admire the way they create their own worlds, both musically and visually.
I also have huge respect for the artists who shaped pop music: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and The Pussycat Dolls.
I think every artist I listen to leaves something with me. Sometimes it can be a melody, a production idea, a visual concept, or simply an emotion. Music constantly gives me new ideas and inspires me to create.
Issues in Music
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing independent artists at the moment?
I think one of the biggest challenges for independent artists today is promotion and getting people to discover your music.
Creating a song is only one part of being an independent artist. You also have to think about marketing, visuals, content creation, building your audience, and many other things.
Sometimes you can create something you truly believe in, put all your emotions into it, release it, and still struggle because people simply haven’t found it yet.
As an independent artist, you often have to be the musician, the creative director, the person responsible for promotion, and many other roles at the same time.
It can be difficult, but I think every challenge also teaches you something and helps you grow.
What’s your take on AI’s place in the music industry?
I think AI can be a very useful tool if we use it correctly.
I don’t see AI as something that should replace artists or human creativity. I see it more as a tool that can help artists explore new ideas, create new sounds, and experiment.
Especially for independent artists who sometimes don’t have access to big budgets or large teams, AI can open new possibilities.
I always compare it like this: if you use AI as a brush, and not as the artist, then why not? A brush helps an artist create something beautiful, but the person holding it is still the one bringing the emotion, the meaning, and the story.
Of course, if everything is completely generated by AI, I think people can feel that something is missing. Music needs human emotions, experiences, and personal stories.
AI should be a tool that supports creativity, not something that replaces it.
I love that you still believe in the album format in what has become a very singles-driven world. What is it about creating albums that appeals to you as a storyteller and artist?
For me, an album is like a movie.
I don’t want to create just a collection of songs. I want to create a world, tell a story, and take people through different emotions from the first track to the last.
I still really believe in the album format, even though we live in a world that is very focused on singles. Honestly, I’m also trying to become better at releasing singles. I’m working on it.
My previous album Elevated actually didn’t have a traditional lead single before the release. I released it as a complete project because, for me, the whole story was more important than one individual song.
I love when an album changes the way you hear certain songs. Sometimes a track that you don’t immediately connect with can become one of your favourites once you understand the bigger picture.
For example, Olivia Rodrigo’s music really reminded me of this. When I first listened to The Cure, I wasn’t completely sure about the song. But after listening to the whole album and understanding the story and emotions behind it, it became one of my favourite tracks.
That is the magic of albums. A song can reveal a completely different meaning when you understand the world around it.
That is what I want to create with my own projects: not just songs, but a complete emotional journey.
Have you considered releasing your albums on physical formats such as vinyl and CD?
Yes, it is something I dream about.
I would love to have my albums available on vinyl and physical formats because there is something very special about having a physical piece of an artist’s work.
I think albums are not only about the music itself, but also about the artwork, the visuals, the booklet, and the whole experience. Having something that listeners can physically hold makes the connection even more personal.
At the moment, it is still quite difficult to organize physical releases in Armenia, and I also want to continue growing my audience.
But I really hope that one day I will be able to release my projects physically and create something special for my listeners.
Final Message / Exclusive Announcement
Before we finish, I want to say thank you again for this opportunity and for giving me the chance to share my story.
I’m really excited for this new era and for people to finally experience Pretty Boy Problems.
I’m also very happy to share with you an exclusive moment: today, I released the second single from the album, which is also called Pretty Boy Problems. This song is a very important part of the project because it represents the main idea and the emotions behind this new era.
I hope listeners will connect with this song and with the story I’m telling through the album.
Thank you for believing in my music and for giving me this space to talk about my journey. I’m very excited for everything that comes next.
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