I love Ariana Grande, as most people know. I think she’s super talented and funny, but honestly, I didn’t love her new album. I really wanted to like it to uphold my reputation, but I didn’t and it was upsetting. In fact, the first thing I sent anyone when I heard it was, “I’m having a crisis” to Niki. Because I was, genuinely, having a crisis. My drama aside, I thought the album was fine at best.
The songs are extremely catchy, and as a whole it had a very good message which I liked.
I loved most of the singles that Grande put out. “thank u, next” came out first, and it was stuck in my head for weeks on end.
I loved it. It was really catchy and fun, and while Grande could have made it a depressing anthem about her exes, she decided to make it fun and interesting. Debuting only weeks after she and Pete Davidson broke up (yikes), it was a fun song that went in a different direction than I was expecting.
Next was “imagine.” I didn’t like it at all. I think Ariana has the best voice in pop music right now, and I was excited to hear her whistle-tones again.
Then came “7 rings.” Despite the controversy with her tattoo, the song was really good.
It’s okay for Grande to brag a little bit, and the song was put together really well. I’m not the biggest fan of trap music, but the strange combination of trap and “My Favorite Things” worked well.
“Break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” was the her best single from “thank u, next,” and was so entertaining. The song was a replacement for a song Grande did not want to keep on the album, and honestly when I saw it, I didn’t expect much. I thought it would be a song that was written fast for fun, but it definitely wasn’t. It was well written and had a great chorus. Some other standouts for me were “bad idea,” and “bloodline.” “Bad idea” has a lot going on in terms of vocals and the actual music.
The combination happened to work for this song, but in songs like “make up,” trap and advanced vocals don’t mix, so there is so much going on. “Bloodline” wasn’t vocally outstanding, but it was fun to listen to.
One thing that was a little weird about the songs in “thank u, next” was that a lot of them started with samples of other people talking, including “bloodline” and “nasa.” It’s an interesting concept, but when it’s more than one song, it’s weird to listen to. I’m someone who likes to listen to a song instead of a story, and when the first 30 seconds of the song is just talking, it doesn’t make much sense. This wasn’t the first time she’s done this either, the talking also appeared twice in “sweetener.” I wish Ariana had shown off her amazing voice in “thank u, next.” People know her for being one of the most talented voices in pop music, but the reason why this album fell short was because she didn’t play to her strengths.
With someone who has a voice that is so advanced and amazing, Ms. Grande shouldn’t be ruining it with the background music that doesn’t match the vocals. I loved “sweetener” and all of Ms. Grande’s albums, but this one fell flat to me. The album as a whole felt kind of rushed, and I wish she had taken another month to release it so she could have perfected some of the songs that weren’t very good. So thank you, Ariana, but next.
