by Hailey Harris (’24) | November 16, 2020
One of the world’s most renowned singers, Ariana Grande, just dropped her new album Positions. Although she released several singles over the summer, it has been 21 months since her last album. Let’s take a look at her newest 14 songs from the album:
Her first song, “shut up,” begins with slow strings, continues with a steady beat, and ends with classical instrumentation. The song’s purpose is to reach out to all her haters, which she does through the lyrics of the song. One of her other songs, “34+35,” radiates fun with a pure, Disney-like melody and sharp contrasting lyrics about her relationship with Dalton Gomez.
Although Ariana usually has singles in her albums, this album, in particular, includes a wide variety of collaborations with different singers. Doja Cat collaborates with Ariana on one of her other songs from the album, “motive,” to sing about the worries that arise at the beginning of a relationship. Another song, “just like magic,” begins with a whimsical pulsating beat. In the song, Grande takes a moment to admire herself as she states her successes in the lyrics. In a collaboration with The Weeknd, titled “off the table,” Grande delivers a beautiful performance as a tribute to Mac Miller, her former boyfriend, who passed away in 2018. The next song from the first half of the album is “six thirty,” which has a chill beat and relaxing vocals — making it an instant hit. The title refers to the clock position, where the hour and minute hands are pointed down, as Ariana tries to see if her partner is down for life. Lastly, “safety net,” featuring rapper Ty Dolla $ign, offers an insight into the fears of falling in love without anything to save you. The slow, mysterious tempo, matched with high vocals, gives the song a mystically anxious mood.
Kicking off the second half of the album, her song “my hair,” is followed with one of the most popular songs from the album, “nasty,” which is another wild song that radiates energy because of Ariana’s range of vocals while talking about one of her previous relationships. In a song with a similar message, “west side,” Ariana suggests that her current relationship is the one she wants for life by using a slow R&B tune. Next, “love language” starts off with bang as it has an upbeat introduction with a funky arrangement of strings (similar to the song “Toxic”) and gives the song a retro feel. The twelfth song, “positions,” was released a week before the album. Filled with digs at her former fiancée, Pete Davidson, Ariana sings about how she succeeds in all aspects of life by switching positions. She spotlights this point in her politically-themed music video where she is the President. Next up is the joyous finger-snapping song “obvious.”
Finally, Grande’s album ends with arguably her most beautiful and most meaningful song: “pov.” It contains a smooth lullaby rhythm, paired with the touching lyrics about seeing yourself from someone else’s point of view, that is sure to leave a lasting impact.