The ponytailed pop princess delivers playful
production and positivity on her new polished LP. Peter Piper picked a peck of
pickled peppers. Pppppppp.
It’s
happened – I’m now an Ariana Grande fan (I think they’re called Arianators, but
I’m not prepared to go that far quite yet).
Whilst
her previous material has been a little too plain and poppy for my liking, Sweetener sees Grande exploring a more –
dare I say it – alternative sound. There
are still some glaring cash grabs here such as ‘breathin’ and ‘God
is a woman’, but the bulk of the tracklist sounds like it’s not trying to be radio-friendly.
This
has a lot to do with the quirky production, a lot of which comes courtesy of Pharrell
Williams. Raunchy title track ‘Sweetener’ is set to sugary synths and bubbly
clicks, whilst ‘Borderline’ layers rave chords over bouncy trap percussion. I wouldn't be surprised if these beats were leftovers from the recent N.E.R.D album - if so they’re tasty
leftovers (with the exception of ‘the light is coming’ which is ruined by its
jarring sample).
The beats
that aren’t produced by Pharrell are slightly more commercial, with the
exception of the upbeat garage beat on ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ (which
incidentally hasn’t stopped this song being a mainstream hit). Still, as glossy
as these other beats are, none of them are plain boring, which keeps this album
constantly engaging.
Of
course, Ariana Grande’s impressive four octave spanning voice plays an
important part in the equation. She does a lot of soulful harmonising and layering which
makes each track feel playful – my favourite example being the jingly ‘R.E.M’
which even has some Mr-Sandman-style bum-bum-bumming in it (perhaps intentional
given the sleep theme of the track). She manages to show off her range without
going on obnoxious Mariah-Carey-style vocal runs, letting her voice soar for
the big choruses and fade to a breathy croon for the more subdued songs.
As
for the lyrics, they’re surprisingly upbeat given everything Ariana Grande has
been through as of late. Her life has been turned upside down – which may well
be the reason for the topsy turvy artwork – but despite this she responds to
the tragedy positively with songs like closer ‘Get Well Soon’ offering a
musical hug to all victims of her Manchester concert bombing and ‘everytime’
acting as a defiant breakup song with her ex Mac Miller. All in all, the tracks
feel more personal and more impactful. Even if other songwriters are credited
alongside her, the lyrics feel intimate, which elevates this beyond the usual
generic pop.
It’s
a shame that it often takes personal tragedy to bring the best music out of an
artist. Since Sweetener’s release,
Grande has already had to deal with further devastating news and has announced
a new album which may possibly be out before 2018 is up. Will she continue to
keep things as upbeat?
★★★★☆TRACK TASTER: