ariana grande - positions (oct. 2020)

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”).

xp to bc: I don't want to speak to Maura's intentions (and I hope she'll swing by to discuss!), but "even when Grande is singing of self-doubt and uncertainty, she’s fully in her feelings, and knowing that pop can bring a release" seems about as close as Time was likely to let her get to saying that Grande is coming from a complex space but finds it easier to come, so to speak, in the less complex landscape of "pop."

I dunno that I really got into Dangerous Woman (sweetener was probably when i really started hearing Grande) and I'd need to give it another listen, but my memory of it was Grande predominantly playing to the male gaze, whereas four years later she seems to be owning who she is pretty fully. Or basically what you said while i was typing!

forks is talking about “Maura's excellent and only lightly coded coverage in Time” tho

yeah, that was the point i was making. Ariana's tongue-in-cheek lack of disinterest in coding at all ("means i wanna 69 with you / no shit" and basically all of Shut Up) is part of what makes the album sound so refreshing to me.

and thanks for the plaudits surm

sorry, my previous post was to morrisp, I misunderstood their posts as a reply to my question.

(I don’t xp very well when I’ve barely waken up!)

Yes, sorry to be confusing, I was responding to the observation about lyrics generally (not the question about the review).

I actually think it's kinda funny how she sings "Open my mind for ya" (in "Nasty")... like, your mind was already "open" back in "Dangerous Woman," that song explored the theme very thoroughly... what new crazy shit is this skinny real-estate guy into, lol

I guess a way to spin it (per our discussion above) is that she is sort of re-writing those songs from her own "p.o.v."

All the "callback" lyrics are maybe the one thing about this album that I'm not totally in love with... but she talks in that YouTube interview about how she made a point of doing that, how the connections are meaningful to her, etc.

IMO, “Obvious” is (secretly) the best song on the whole album. It’s a total singalong jam, in a classic, straight-up R&B style... gives me so much joy.

3435 is breezily recognizable and so pretty, a good sonic reference to tu nxt indeed

also off the table tho
Everything is just so INSTANT and lush

I wish I could adequately express my love for this wonderful album!

The moment in "Off the Table" when The Weeknd sings, I was toxic, then I was toxic to someone else... – and Ari comes in on "someone else" – gives me goosebumps...

I might have to throw "off the table" a vote tbh

Omg SAME
Exactly when I made this post lol

xp

:)

she is newly engaged... wishing her happiness (of course), but also hope it inspires a fresh round of songwriting/recording!

New documentary looks fun! I never watch those things but it does look neat

It’s basically a well photographed show on the tour, plus some fluffy behind-the-scenes stuff.

Ariana sure has a lot of best friends

Lol, I assumed (hoped) that was an in-joke

It was cool that they showed her rehearsing “Monopoly” w/Victoria, but I wish they had filmed one of the two actual performances of that song on the tour.

deluxe ed., teased:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtLrcvfUYAAUNsL?format=jpg&name=medium

ayyy

Snap, the other tracks are all new (not remixes):

positions deluxe friday 🤍 which of the new additions are u claiming ? https://t.co/FpkiHYLFqt pic.twitter.com/IegiKqjjKz

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 15, 2021

the new traxx are lushhhh

"main thing" is positively aquatic

these are all great, especially "test drive"

She has a new Vevo performance thing happening – first clip:

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

When the news broke, a new verse on a remix of a 6-year-old Weeknd song seemed like the most meager of offerings (in the middle of this lengthy, Wicked-induced spell of no new recordings) – but she does sound great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ-qToZUybM

why does this even exist lol

Someone said the original song has been blowing up on TikTok recently (this the remix); don’t know if that’s accurate

*thus

it’s a top 10 hit and was recently the number one song at radio

tiktok randomly making hits out of older songs is still so weird

Modern version of Levi's ads?

True heads will pay $0.69 for the a cappella version

Her new studio pics are v funny (including the vid that pretends to have audio, but is silent). She's back, baby

Was there ever a poll of the Sweetener/Thank U Next era?

Here is the all time Ari Top 30 from a recent r/ariheads Reddit poll of faves

1 god is a woman
2 no tears left to cry
3 Pov
4 everytime
5 goodnight n go
6 in my head
7 thank u next
8 better off
9 ghostin
10 needy
11 dangerous woman
12 into you
13 positions
14 nasty
15 bad idea
16 love language
17 greedy
18 safety net
19 get well soon
20 34+35
21 the way
22 one last time
23 7 rings
24 bloodline
25 breathin
26 rem
27 sometimes
28 off the table
29 break your heart right back
30 moonlight

that's a real weird list

Weird list for sure ("GIAW" is one of my least fave tracks, fwiw)

love to see "POV" getting its due

i've learned over time that my interpretation of her catalog is much different than the majority of her stans, in that dangerous woman & sweetener represent the clear valley to me

i think i just like when she's making R&B music bcuz i've always seen her albums as

1. thank u next
2. yours truly

3. positions

4. my everything

5. dangerous woman
6. sweetener

sweetener in particular to me just feels like a lost era -- everyone was super excited about her becoming a true tabloid celebrity and she made her first gesture towards auteur status w/ the pharrell stuff, pitchfork jumped on board (her only album given an 8.0+ lmao) but that album was always flat to me, she jumped on the pharrell train far too late & honestly i haven't heard "no tears left to cry" or "god is a woman" out in the world in a long ass time. dangerous woman was always pretty mid to me too, i love "be alright" but even "so into you" leaves me cold. i can never match the energy and spirit of the other girls when that one comes on at the party, i just don't have it in me

positions was always in a tough spot of following up her obvious career apex but i still fight over that album to this day -- it's one of the better R&B albums of the decade, which is kinda fucked up but not really ariana's fault

I have a slightly different “POV”… I love Sweetener (tho agree “GIAW” is its valley), but Positions is also my favorite at the end of the day. I don’t think TUN is quite as strong overall as either of those albums, but it does have some of her best songs (in addition to maybe her worst!: “7 Rings”).

“DW” is terrific musically, but the lyrics let it down in spots. “So Into You” is its weakest track… it’s fine but could have gone to any artist, it doesn’t feel distinct to Ariana or really showcase her talent.