Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
A little bit of a disclaimer to start: I am not a hardcore Ariana Grande fan by any means. I have no negativity towards her, I just don’t tend to listen to her music all that much. And, if I do, it’s usually just the radio hits, so I tend not to venture too deep, so this review was the most comprehensive listen I’ve ever given any of her albums to date.
My general assumption surrounding Grande is that most of her songs/albums sound the same. I guess you could argue that that could be said about any artist, but I feel this much more strongly with her.
Grande released this new album, called positions on Oct. 30th, and the songs were written and recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. She released the title track as the lead single on Oct. 23rd, with “34+35” being released as the second single the same day as the album release.
For this album, based on the teasers and cover alone, I had higher expectations. The vibes seemed to be very R&B and vintage, which was something I found exciting for her to explore.
When she released the single “positions”, I wasn’t as impressed as I had wanted to be. The song is good and catchy, however, and I actually really enjoy the beat. Plus, the music video is undeniably iconic. But, I knew from the release of this single that the album was not going to live up to the expectations I had set. And, after listening to the album in full, I’m pretty set on that. Nevertheless, the album will likely still be a favorite among her fans.
positions has a shift that her other albums haven’t possessed in their entirety: confidence. Her confidence, especially in regard to her sexuality is very profound. In songs like “34+35” (do the math here, folks) and “nasty”, she is much more explicit with her sensual lyrics, and I think the confidence and boldness make those tracks very fun to listen to, even if they are lacking in some departments. There seems to be a general consensus that this is the Ariana that she has always wanted to be–and she’s clearly flourishing.
The featured artists on this album honestly do not deliver very much as their presences really do not enhance the songs in any way. “motive” with Doja Cat has some nice 90s vibes and a simple, yet catchy chorus, but Doja’s inclusion feels very contrasted next to the rest of the song and frankly pretty unnecessary.
My personal favorite track on this album is “my hair”— it is the only song that I feel fully meets my expectations and delivers that jazzy sound that the rest of the album desperately needs.
The rest of the album has a few sweet songs like “love language” and “pov” which offer some change of pace and vulnerability. But, all in all, many of the songs follow suit with the rest of her albums–a lot of wispy sounds, a decent beat, and a few whistle tones popped in the background.
Overall, the album is just alright for me, but I have no doubt it will still be deemed a success.