Ariana Grande - Positions + marriage (and 1st divorce)

Her vocals are divine in Love Language. I guess the album has picked up a bitsy in the second half.
 
It reminds me quite a lot of Yours Truly in places, my favourite Ari album. Very pleasantly surprised by all of this!

*kiss of death activates*
 
Commercially I can see why it's probably not the best way for her to go though. Zero meaningful cultural impact ahoy.
 
EVERY SONG IS GOOD and that's the hill I'm prepared to flop on

Nothing on thank u, next grabbed me like any of this but I only had a cursory listen. Should I re-investigate?
 
Honestly you girls are all being very démodé, forming an opinion based on actually listening to it

I haven’t listened to it and have decided that it’s AWFUL. (Unlike that Little Mix programme which I haven’t watched but is AMAZING :disco:)
 
I CAN'T BELIEVE POSITIONS IS #1 THIS WEEK IN THE USA AND THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE CREAMING THEMSELVES OVER THIS ALBUM CLAIMING IS HER BEST ALBUM TO DATE WHEN IT'S JUST A COLLECTION OF MUMBLING SLOW TEMPO MOOD PIECES THAT PANDER TO THE SPOTIFY CROWD WITH NO REAL SOUL OR LOVE BEHIND IT, IT'S ALL SO EMPTY.
 
ok so I'm keeping Motive, Safety Net and probably My Hair but that's it.

shut up and 34+35 are awful, who would have thought she could make sex sound boring?
 
Perhaps something from Kylie’s lovely new photoshoot.

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I’m 4 songs in, and this album sounds richer than the last one. It’s still quite finger clicky, but I’m okay with Ariana’s ode to Memoirs.
 
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Her voice on the Weeknd duet is just :disco:
 
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I’m 4 songs in, and this album sounds richer than the last one. It’s still quite finger clicky, but I’m okay with Ariana’s ode to Memoirs.
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OK putting this on now - I'm scared but will be posting track by track thoughts. I'm already in a bad mood today (although @dUb your lovely podcast did help a bit x) so I expect this might send me over the EDGE
 
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I can't stop listening to it but also can't pick out any individual track(s) to add to my ROTATION playlist :side-eye:

Also I can't hum any of it
 
Just saw someone on PJ saying it's like Charmbracelet and Caution had a baby, production-wise. No WONDER I'm all over it :disco:
 
06 shut up - it's fine but it's not really a song is it? more like an INTERLUDE. on an album full of INTERLUDES.
07 34+35 - 4 producers on this. jesus. well, it's quite PLEASANT!
07 motive - a beat! I could do without Doja on this. a pointless contribution.
07 just like magic - clearly the best song so far. reminds me quite a bit of Make Up off the last album. "middle finger to my bum and then I slap it"? ok.
08 off the table - it must have KILLED HER to make a song this long. this one has a real classic R&B vibe. I can imagine it growing and it feels like the one (so far) I'd add to my playlist.
 
07 six thirty - this bitch really be thinkin she has free access to black vernacular just 'cos she's KKW Beauty'd herself mixed-race huh. nice strings.
06 safety net - I'll consume Ty $ all day n' nite (well at least for an hour anyway) but this is quite MEANDERING. I'm bored. no need for a safety net when playing it this safe beb. OMG I can't believe it's not over yet! THIS one should've been 2:23.
07 my hair - at least this '90s jazz standard-lite vibe is something a bit DIFFERENT to keep me from drifting. the dog whistle register notes! :disco: and then of course we get a whole FOUR SECONDS of brass before the premature fade-out. thanks kween. :rolleyes:
07 nasty - quite a sweet sax jam. reminds me a bit of H.A.T.E.U. - similarly serene, the production is very The-Dream.
 
I think I found my song of the year in POV
 
05 west side - just finished and I can't recall a SINGLE thing about it.
08 love language - well. this is more like it. "pardon my french, but could you speak in tongues?" I'll take whatever scraps she's throwing me at this point.
08 positions - despite the nonplussed reactions when it debuted, this is clearly the strongest first single choice. I'm not expecting this to be a LONG CAMPAIGN.
07 obvious - feels like this could grow and at least the chorus has a bit of something to it. the album is definitely going out on its strongest section.
08 pov - my god, how refreshing to hear her putting something into her vocal and moving into second (and even third) gear. a strong closer.

MOST TAKEN BY: off the table, love language, positions, pov

the problem with the album is that even when there are subtle sonic switch-ups (as on my hair, love language, motive) the melodies are all constructed in the same loose, stream of consciousness kind of way that feels very sketchbook-y, first draft and explicitly designed to be UN-POP. it all blends into one, which does a disservice to the few things she's trying here and there. vocally it's also way too charmbracelet. and yes, that is an adjective now.

and even within the box she's stubbornly rooted herself in, it has nothing even close to being as good as ghostin', NASA or fake smile. those songs were much stronger melodically. still, it's an enjoyable little album.
 
POV IS excellent. It's the kinda music she SHOULD'VE been making this whole time. Instead we got Demi Lovato and her spoiled lasagna vocals.
 

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