Album review: Ariana Grande, Sweetener

NZ Herald·

23 Aug, 2018 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Ariana Grande has bounced back with Sweetener. Photo / Getty Images

Ariana Grande's latest album is subdued, especially in comparison to Dangerous Woman.

But where Dangerous Woman felt like Grande was constantly pushing her voice to show it off, and pushing the raunchy lyrics to shirk her Disney image, Sweetener is the album of a woman who is comfortable in her own skin and abilities.

This is Grande's first album since a terror attack took 22 lives and injured more than 100 after her concert in Manchester last May. It's also the first since her very public split with Mac Miller, and her engagement to Pete Davidson.

It could easily have been a sombre affair but, instead, she's made an album full of hope and happiness - complete with Pharrell-soaked dance tracks and rap cameos by Missy Elliott and Nicki Minaj.

Grande has leaned right into trap production with the help of Pharrell, Max Martin, and Ilya Salmanzadeh, as well as longtime collaborator Thomas Brown. She's also really relaxed into her vocals, sing-rapping soft and low, and throwing in the power notes and runs far less often than usual, favouring well-executed harmonies instead.

She sings about being successful in a way which doesn't smack of the braggadocio of hip-hop but rather reclaims the right to celebrate success as a young woman.

It's the same kind of self-empowerment heard on God is a Woman, in which Grande finds power in her sexuality.

But for all the upbeat tracks and sass, Grande does delve into the effects of Manchester, her break-up, and her own battle with anxiety. It's hidden under pop melodies and trap beats, but it's there on tracks like Everytime, Better Off, Breathin', No tears left to cry.

The final track, Get Well Soon, pays tribute to the victims of Manchester with 40 seconds of silence at the end of the track, bringing its total length to five minutes, 22 seconds - 5/22, the date of the bombing.

But after all that, there's the Sweetener, which "brings the bitter taste to a halt". That Sweetener is undoubtedly Grande's new fiance Pete Davidson, who has a track named after him and whose presence is felt on almost every second song.

Two such tracks are highlights of this album; Goodnight N Go, which beautifully remixes the Imogen Heap song and ends with a frankly killer vocal by Grande, and R.E.M, which details Grande's meet-cute with Davidson via dreamy vocals and a heavy beat.

Sweetener is a lesson in empowerment, self-assuredness, and finding light in the darkness, and on top of all that, it's just a great sounding trap-pop album, with some of the best vocals in the business.