ariana grande - positions (oct. 2020)

skimming through reviews and they all seem to complain that it's not full of big obvious hits and too low-key

idk that's kinda the point! she goes for vibes and nails it the whole way through and as much as i do love some of her Big Pop Moments i think she's even better at this

but i've never quite understood the critical response she's gotten after sweetener was really loved when it was easily one of her weakest records

I love Sweetener, and think it deserves every kudo – but maybe it had the advantage of a “comeback” narrative, in terms of critical reception

(which this one doesn’t have, and some critics may not have that “hook” to rely on... I dunno, don’t want to judge reviews I haven’t read. do any of them talk about her vocals much?)

I think “pov” is interesting in that I’m not sure she can totally “pull off” the vocal—but she goes for it anyway.

there are a few other spots on the album where it also feels like she’s pushing past some of her natural limitations as a vocalist, and just doing what she loves and making the kind of songs she wants to make.

Feature focusing on Tommy Brown, with some details on how the album came together: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ariana-grandes-new-album-positions-tommy-brown-interview-11604060104

this is my favourite of hers since her debut and I love how cohesive it feels. They're right that there's no "Break Free" or "thank u, next" but a forty-minute album of charming r&b is a great look for her

I agree. This is a right place, right moment sort of album for her. A stay in home, or rather stay in bed vibe. Who even wants summer, party anthems from her in 2020? Have they not been paying attention?

And I’m not even a fan of r&b ballads (or most ballads tbh) but I think it’s a very appropriate mood and a good look on her. She knows she wont be touring this album so it makes sense it has a smaller sound, this is meant for home-listening not for stadiums. And as noticed, this also allows her to push her limitations as a vocalist since she wont be risking singing these in an off-night.

only listened to this once so far (haven’t had the time, and there’s also a Wizkid album, priorities!), but it sounded very good and assured.

think Moka raises a very interesting point (if I read her correctly) about the way the pandemic and all it entails might be playing into the album’s sound. interestingly, this might be the case with the Wizkid album as well.

I think "Shut Up" (the first song she recorded) dates from the beginning of the year, and "Nasty" was obviously well in the works by the time she posted the snippet in late March (around the time the shutdowns began here).

I have thought about how she said, when thank u, next came out, that she wanted to start releasing songs soon after recording them (like a rapper, etc.)... obviously, she didn't end up going that route, at least this time around. She saved them all up for an album -- which feels like the right move, under the circumstances.

Xpost: yes! I haven’t read articles or interviews but I think the sound of the album is a very conscious decision based on the pandemic. Most of these sound like slow burners rather than stadium anthems to me, and I feel knowing there wouldn’t be a tour affected this decision.

There's also a practical point that flying to Sweden to record a few bangers may not have been an option (...but it could also be that this is the album she would have made even under normal circumstances!).

She did a long YouTube interview over the weekend that I'd like to listen to when I have a chance; I assume she touches on this topic.

apparently scott storch said he first played the “my hair” beat for her in fall of 2018, i wouldn’t read so much into the pandemic aspect. the production doesn’t feel all that different from thank u next to me in terms of tone & tempo it’s just more of an R&B palette as opposed to a pop one. even the big hits on thank u next were pretty low key

Good point about the Storch beat (the reference is in that tweet I posted above).

the fact that some tracks are of older provenance doesn’t invalidate Moka’s point about the overall mood of the album imo

correlation, causation etc

The Zach Sang interview is cute... she seems more relaxed / “comfortable in her skin” than in the previous few.

She says she wanted to focus a little more on “singing” for this album—as Thank U, Next was more about “narrative” and “bops.” Also, some of the tracks started with just strings; then lyrics, before anything else was added.

(Almost all the talk is about lyrical content; wish someone would ask her more about music & aesthetic choices.)

She does reveal that for “Motive,” she sent Murda Beatz “a little playlist of diva music” as reference, leading with Madonna’s “Vogue”—and he sent back a beat called Vogue, which the track is built on.

thanks to this album I’m now listening to The Pharcyde. Ariana could definitely work with “Passin’ Me By”.

the impression I'm picking up from the faint-praise reviews is that critics like her better when she's coming directly out of some obvious, well-publicized trauma. or at least that's my best guest since very few of the criticisms about production/songwriting make much sense to me. (like the AV Club person calling it "too cohesive" lol)

If so, that confirms my suspicion about reviewers needing the "comeback" hook.

hey didn't backread how do we feel about this record

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It’s wonderful. Such a joy & pleasure

first two spins suggest this is a classic

just came back to say:

it good

it's tight

This is probably the most outré song she’s ever performed on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYZyzo8UJQM

She also covered it 2 years ago for BBC radio 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9wvtSgJ1YM

Interesting, thanks! Didn’t know that

the only track on this i can't ride for is the weeknd one and it's mostly because i hate the fucking weeknd

That unintelligible chorus on positions is so addictive.

This album is fucked up

.. in a good way!

As per usual the fan-made stuff accompanying the album is so sweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ChTg8jtDqg

I think Shut Up might be Top 5 all-time Ariana.

I think more than one of these tracks is top-five Ariana, she has officially claimed her place in the canon

O sorry I misunderstood what top-five meant but yes you got it

I feel like it’s one of those albums where you realize you’re witnessing something, and you re alive to witness it

I think a case can be made that it’s her best album overall. It may lack the depth and ambition of Dangerous Woman; the endearing idiosyncrasies of Sweetener; and the atmosphere and spontaneity of Thank U, Next... but it has no real missteps, and retains the “personal” focus of her past few albums while stepping back into a comfortable, casual, “nothing-left-to-prove” mode.

(and the songs, as always, are fantastic)

Definitely an argument to be made there
The harmonies on this record tho

i think Maura's excellent and only lightly coded coverage in Time on this album crystallized my thinking on just why it seems to be leaving reviewers nonplussed: it's a collection of songs by a woman clearly and severely impacted by trauma that is nonetheless firmly centered on her desire for pleasure and orgasm. That is a treatise and perspective that the pop market is clearly ready for but that many critics are not.

Love that perspective

Like a lot

Also applies to the reception of other sexually forward records in recent memory, thank you for articulating it

for the curious, like myself:

https://time.com/5906180/ariana-grande-positions-review/

I don’t get your “only lightly coded” reference, forks. care to explain?

A few of the songs are fairly explicit, but the lyrics aren’t much different from what’s in Dangerous Woman. A difference, I think, is that these lyrics sound like a woman wrote them; whereas some of DW’s “sex lyrics” sound like a man wrote them for her to sing (...tho I don’t know if that’s actually the case).

At any rate, these lyrics are more “in her voice“; and she also no longer needs a male rapper in the middle of the song to drive the point home (much as I love Future’s verse on “Everyday”).