The sweetener and thanks of Ariana Grande combine in a masterpiece of 13 titles



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Ariana Grande has managed the impossible since her return in 2018, publishing the most acclaimed and best-selling album of her career … and returning six months later with an even more acclaimed sequel and more quick.

Already one of the brightest stars of pop, Sweetener and Thank you U, Next Great catapulted in the discussion of all the decades, while offering to the fans 27 superb new tracks combined for their daily rotation. And even if the two albums win on their own – everyone follows their own internal logic with their order of the tracks, their rhythm, their collaborators and their unique selections – we, at Display panel could not resist the temptation to see what it might look like if we tried to combine his last 12 months into one package, to create the most impeccable LP possible, nu-Ariana.

But it's not because we shoot both series that we want to feel like it's a Greatest Hits: we always wanted to maintain the consistency and fluidity of a traditional album, while still maintaining a lifetime easy to digest. Unfortunately, this meant separating from some of the favorites of both series, including "R.E.M.", "Get Well Soon" and "God is a Woman" of Sweetener, and "Needy", "Bloodline" and "7 Rings" from Thank you U, Next – Because they did not quite fit our vision. We still have 13 tracks: six of each of the two sets, plus a bonus drawn from a recent Great feature.

This will not replace any of the original two albums in our hearts, but it's a fascinating exercise that consists of trying to sum up the best of one of the greatest memory tracks of recent pop. Below, we present: thanks thanks.

1. "No tears to cry" (Sweetener)

The song that launched its return in the spring of last year was, at the time, an unexpected hybrid and even slightly confusing combining emotional exhaustion and musical and physical release. Returning to his hard-earned ecstasy nearly a year later, it's almost impossible to imagine this time of the Great beginning in any other way.

2. "NASA" (Thank you U, Next)

"NASA" is one of the most entertaining songs that Grande has done in recent years: a dynamic bop that turns a breath of demand into a singalong relationship built around a four-letter chant. For Ariana's previous albums, it would be wise to choose a single; sure Thank you U, Next, we'll have to wait for his turn.

3. "Blazed" (feat. Pharrell) (Sweetener)

The first complete title on SweetenerAfter the 40 seconds a capella "Raindrops (A Cried Angel)", "Blazed" is even more stunning than "NASA", thanks to Pharrell's particularly jerky and samba-samba rhythm. We have to take a little easy on the Pharrell cuts on thanks thanksbecause his contributions reflect so much his own sound signature that they can sometimes distract Ariana's attention, but this is an easy task.

4. "Imagine" (Thank you U, Next)

An inspired choice for the first match of Grande, "Imagine" is much slower and more emotional than your average average, but in this slot, it sets the tone for the ensemble at once intimate, lyrical and enveloping. Here, it provides the necessary slowdown after three accelerated slices to start, as well as the best vocal showcase for Grande Sofar.

5. "Bad idea" (Thank you U, Next)

Another unique potential to be off Thank you U, Next"Bad Idea" winds a thorny new-wave guitar riff around a boom-bap club beat and one of Ariana's most mischievous vocals – though, of course, even the most remarkable title of the album does not speak of his inactive hands. A perfect cut to maintain the dynamics of our set in the first period.

6. "sweetener" (Sweetener)

the Sweetener title track is one of the most important delusions of the series: an incredibly brilliant combination of almost choral melodic gratification and lyrical sensuality, with a fundamental blend of charity and spirituality that you will not really hear anywhere else. Pharrell's popcorn synths provide the final ingredient to make it a necessary additive to all the best-of this period of Ariana.

7. "Thank you U, Next" (Thank you U, Next)

One of the shitty sneaky things about Thank you U, Next That's how he keeps his first three singles until the end, until they are almost like thoughts after the fact, although they are now three of the biggest pop hits of these four last months. Placed in the middle of our montage, "Thank U, Next" appears in place of the centerpiece. (And honestly, we had not planned to purposely have the two title tracks at the center of thanks thanks, but it helps to give our set a nice symmetry.)

8. "Better" (Sweetener)

A kind of secret climax of Sweetener"Better Off" is an ideal comedy after the movie "Thank U, Next". It offers an interesting reminder to the previous "NASA" with its "You keep me in your orbit" opening lyrics.

9. "Dance to This" (Troye Sivan & # 39; s Flowering)

And now, our impromptu choice – this slippery duo with a similar mind, Troye Sivan, who ended up at Sivan Flowering album last year. The song could have been an even more natural fit on Sweetener, like a dance song that never quite goes to four voices and that looks more like an intimate night than a cathartic evening. It's hard not to wish the single to be saved six months later for Ari's record of commercial success; Released last June, the song completely missed the Billboard Hot 100.

10. "Break with your girlfriend, I'm bored" (Thank you U, Next)

An ideal radio single that dates back to the turn of the century with both its impeccable pop-R & B hybridity and, of course, its flashing interpolation and not to be missed * NSYNC, which looks like a wink of the eye delivered from end to end. generations of pop star. It is telling that the only thing that currently prevents it from ranking # 1 on the Hot 100 is a different system. Thank you U, Next Cut.

11. "Pete Davidson" (Sweetener)

"Better Off" might sound like an interlude in its sobriety – lyrics about rooftop fucking – but "Pete Davidson" was a legitimate interlude, an excerpt from a 74-second song that starts at s & rsquo; To fade as it feels as if it was hitting the pace. That said, it is essential for the period, both for its resolute (though somewhat uncertain) euphoria and for its title, reflecting a commitment to instant decision-making for which few pop stars have had the audacity.

12. "Ghostin" (Thank you U, Next)

The uncomfortable insistence on happiness that ends "Pete Davidson" naturally shifts into the emotional nightmare that is "Ghostin", the most damning title of each of these albums. "Ghostin", which is devastated wherever it is, is truly a climax. This is even more surprising given the relatively sunny disposition of most of our ensembles, which is unfortunately unfortunate given the roller coaster period. The past year has been for Grande.

13. "Breathin" (Sweetener)

Pivoting from the low point of "Ghostin", our set ends with "Breathin", a song that seems to want to be some sort of last decisive word about this period "When you live hell, keep it up" the life of Ariana. But if "No Tears Left to Cry" is a hymn on tragedy, this cathartic mantra speaks of the daily chore and anxiety that follow survival – and thus constitutes the perfect book to hang near our thanks thanks.

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