Iranian-born, globally-rooted popstar Ava like Lava opens the year with Genie Out the Bottle — her first release of 2026 and a bold declaration of self-trust, surrender, and forward motion.

Following the cultural fusion of Tokyo Thrift, Ava continues to build her sonic world through Middle Eastern–rooted production and hypnotic repetition.

The genie — long associated with Ava like Lava’s visual language and symbolism — appears here not as fantasy, but as archetype: the Middle Eastern magician, the alchemist, creating a new reality from everything that was.

Anchored by the refrain “all in or don’t bother,” the song interrogates limiting beliefs, inherited fears, and the quiet habit of waiting — for approval, clarity, or acceptance.

Sung primarily in English with moments of Farsi, the lyric “یکی بود یکی نبود / داستان تازه داره شروع میشه” (“Once upon a time, a new story is beginning”) frames the track as an origin moment — guided by faith rather than control.

“Genie Out the Bottle is about letting go,” says Ava.

With its mantra-like structure and emotionally charged stillness, the track feels less like a performance and more like a ritual — a surrender to process, intuition, and being.

As her first monthly release of 2026, Genie Out the Bottle marks the point of no return in Ava like Lava’s journey: fearless, self-directed, and unconcerned with being understood — only with being true.