The architects behind some of GrandeРІР‚в„ўs earwormier tracks and sturdiest LPs reunited in the making of this album: her besties and fellow-singer-songwriters Tayla Parx and Victoria MonР“В©t and the producer Tommy Brown, who has worked with Grande since her dР“В©but album, РІР‚СљYours Truly.РІР‚Сњ РІР‚СљPositionsРІР‚Сњ contains, I think, the essence of Grande, maintaining a feeling of coziness even as it serves new dishes that delight in their vulgarity. Whereas GrandeРІР‚в„ўs other recent albums-including the Grammy award-winning РІР‚СљSweetener,РІР‚Сњ partially produced by Pharrell Williams and РІР‚Сљ thank u, next,РІР‚Сњ recorded in mourning-ascended to the realm of high concept, РІР‚СљPositionsРІР‚Сњ alights back on Earth, where it roams among modest and more comforting rhythms. Against the flow of traffic, IРІР‚в„ўll resist offering such a reading here, as РІР‚СљPositionsРІР‚Сњ also resists such a mating of content and circumstance. Whether that music was executed within the constraints of quarantine (as in РІР‚Сљ How IРІР‚в„ўm Feeling NowРІР‚Сњ or РІР‚Сљ folkloreРІР‚Сњ) or simply released during the pandemic (РІР‚Сљ Fetch the Bolt Cutters,РІР‚Сњ РІР‚Сљ Future Nostalgia,РІР‚Сњ РІР‚Сљ ChromaticaРІР‚Сњ) isnРІР‚в„ўt really the point. Poptimists routinely clamor to crown the most emblematic quarantine releases, only to discard them weeks later in favor of the next, more perfect music of the moment. Wresting symbolic timeliness from new album releases has become an even headier pastime than usual during this period when all of our lives feel as if theyРІР‚в„ўre on hold. The easy, midtempo track, about being a jack-of-all-trades lover-a spiritual descendant of DestinyРІР‚в„ўs ChildРІР‚в„ўs РІР‚СљCater 2 U,РІР‚Сњ if you will-is nestled, on the album, alongside thirteen other tracks that are similarly concerned with flights of fucking, among other things. This provides Grande the opportunity to cosplay Jackie O in her way, with sexed-up sixties silhouettes courtesy of Gigi HadidРІР‚в„ўs frequent stylist, Mimi Cuttrell (who also worked on the video for GrandeРІР‚в„ўs РІР‚СљGod Is a WomanРІР‚Сњ). The music video for РІР‚СљPositions,РІР‚Сњ released on the same day, swings viewers into the White House for a flyРІР‚в„ўs-eye view of The Ari Administration. Perhaps caught up in the mood myself, I didnРІР‚в„ўt bother to consider other possible meanings of the title until the albumРІР‚в„ўs lead single was released, on October 22nd. Still, the announcement of GrandeРІР‚в„ўs sixth studio album, and its title-РІР‚СљPositionsРІР‚Сњ-was met with anticipation, and maybe a small bit of trepidation, over what an outright sexual album from this artist would look like-as if she hadnРІР‚в„ўt already donned a black latex bunny hood several albums prior.

Grande has largely escaped the narrative of sexual rebellion that has stuck to other pop-star alums of childrenРІР‚в„ўs programming, who have tended to sublimate adult desires into experiments in new genres, with tear-away wardrobes to match. Seuss-style-on a car, on the bus, at the laundromat, by the watercooler-as Grande sang the memorable hook: РІР‚СљHe giving me that good shit / That make me not quit.РІР‚Сњ ThereРІР‚в„ўs something special about the moment a pop star takes the opportunity to cuss in key. In the songРІР‚в„ўs music video, everyday couples got it in where they could, Dr.

On РІР‚СљEveryday,РІР‚Сњ Ari again sang the praises of a marathon man, silkily, accompanied by the marathon hit- and baby-maker, the rapper Future. The albumРІР‚в„ўs first expletive belonged to the then-reigning queen of hip-hop, Nicki Minaj, on РІР‚СљSide to Side,РІР‚Сњ a song about the squishy pleasure of finding oneself temporarily hobbled after a round-the-clock sex romp. Ariana GrandeРІР‚в„ўs voice could never be called demure, not even in its lowest or breathiest registers, or in its manifestation as the endearingly eccentric latter half of the Nickelodeon duo РІР‚СљSam & Cat.РІР‚Сњ Yet it wasnРІР‚в„ўt until the release of her third album, РІР‚СљDangerous Woman,РІР‚Сњ in 2016 (well out of the way of that yearРІР‚в„ўs election), that her music was permitted an explicit rating.

Positions album