Ariana Grande releases Sweetener

LAUREN JEFFERIES

After a four month hiatus from music, Ariana Grande has returned with the highly anticipated album, Sweetener released earlier this month.

Ariana returned with her first single of the Sweetener era, no tears left to cry in May and followed with the light is coming (feat. Nicki Minaj) in June, she did not make it a single, and lastly, her second single God is a woman in July.

The album starts off with a 38 second intro, raindrops (an angel cried), acapella. Showing off her amazing vocals, it’s the most gorgeous way to start of the album.

Blazed (feat. Pharrell), the light is coming (feat. Nicki Minaj), and R.E.M.) have a hard r&b vibe to them, a new style we have never heard from her before.

While the new style has been controversial, these songs are some of her best because she shows a different side of herself.

God is a woman is the second single she released, this song is definitely one she’s going to be known for. Releasing a song in this day and age touching on religion and sexuality was a shock for all of us as some people these days get offended by anything. Some “fans” got so mad at her about the title of this song they pledged to never listen to her again.

She performed this song at the VMA’s and it was the most viewed performance of the night. The the performance was highly anticipated, and it did not disappoint. The stage was set up as The Last Supper but with women of different ethnicities, dressed appropriately. The choreo was also amazing along with her vocals.

The album goes into more hits like sweetener, successful, everytime, borderline (feat. Missy Elliot), these songs were produced by Pharrell and Max Martin.

I had high expectations knowing Pharrell was producing a lot of the music on this album and a lot of people were nervous because of his different style of producing. He did not disappoint.

Max Martin has produced tons of Ariana’s songs in the past like Break Free, Problem, and Side to Side. I expected the songs he was producing for her to be amazing but also be able to reach the general public which he’s done super well with God is a woman and breathin.

One of the biggest hits on the album, breathin, talks about anxiety and how she’s dealing with that in the moment. It hit number 1 on the US iTunes charts with no promotions and without being a single.

The song has calmed me down when I’m having anxiety and I know it’s helped others too. It’s like a 3 minute form of therapy in a song which is something rare to find in the music industry these days.

The last song on the album is get well soon. Dedicated to the victims of the Manchester attack, the track is 5 minutes and 22 seconds replicating the date of the attack, May 22nd. It touches on anxiety and is no doubt one of the most important songs she’s ever created. It gives off vibes from her prior album Yours Truly and I absolutely love this song and it’s a fan favorite.