Everything Wrong with Ariana Grande’s New Album
After the surprise release of her catchy single, “Thank U, Next” on November 3, 2018, following her split with fiancé Pete Davidson, Ariana Grande went on to complete an entire album of the same name dedicated to all her past breakups.
To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of Grande. However, I thought that “thank u, next” was not a bad song. For those who haven’t heard the song (which is probably few), she names all her past lovers including Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, Malcolm (Mac Miller), and her ex-fiancé, Pete Davidson. She talks about learning from her past and becoming a better person from those experiences. My favourite lyric from the song is “Plus I met someone new […] her name is Ari.” The song is her personal farewell to her rough past and I salute for showing such bravery.
However, it’s obvious that the album was quite rushed and not carefully crafted. The second promotional single she dropped from the album, “7 rings” is a complete rip-off of “My Favourite Things” from The Sound of Music. The fact that she is simply rapping (or more specifically, whispering) for half the song completely takes away the creativity and potential that the song could have. She also recycled the drum machine kit and the same synths for several songs on her album including, “imagine”, “bad idea”, and “7 rings”, resulting in a blur between the contrast of the songs on her album.
The only completely different song on the album is, “ghostin”, where she talks about upsetting her partner because she’s crying over another guy — likely a reference to her split with Pete Davidson due to the accidental death of her ex, Mac Miller. The song features wide string chorus, which is orchestrated quite well combined with glittering pads and synths.
In general, the album is simply missing an emotional connection. Although her lyrics are deeply personal and relatable for the broken-hearted, it’s just not something you could listen to over and over again because the songs lack depth and dimension.
Listen to Ariana Grande’s new album, Thank U, Next here:
