Sweetener
Ariana Grande
2018
After facing tragedy, the pop figure solidified her definitive sound as a form of therapy on an album cherished by her fans and the public alike.
Dream Pop/Hip Pop Soul
BY HARPSICHORD
MARCH 15, 2024
When looking back at Ariana Grande’s discography, her fourth studio album, sweetener , is acknowledged as the gradual shift. There is the pre-sweetener-and-thank-u-next-era of her first three albums. Coming off as a lead role on Nickelodeon as Cat Valentine, her first two entries in mainstream pop (and lightly R&B) set out to shed her skin as a teen star while proving that she could be a supreme vocalist. And more so, in the light of Mariah Carey. She had almost been deemed as the second coming of the veteran singer as she cooed through gems like Yours Truly ’s “Baby I” in 2013 and powered through the anthems, “Break Free” and “Bang Bang” from 2014’s My Everything .
Amongst the knowers of pop music, Ariana Grande had been a household name. In 2016, she solidified her identity and iconic look of a ponytail and latex bunny ears with Dangerous Woman . But underneath the glamorized success her effort got drowned out by the Adele’s, Rihanna’s, and Beyoncé’s of the music world– despite her eventually selling just as much as and keeping up with them on the charts. What Dangerous Woman had mainly accomplished however, was delivering a pop star that showed her potential to have edge in a cleaner way.
Post those first three albums, sweetener prided itself on crossing the line. No longer did she have to tip toe on trap beats– she was not pouncing on them in the fashion that Miley Cyrus discovered with 2013’s Bangerz . However, unlike Miley Cyrus’s that came across more as a caricature– or what Taylor Swift feigned on 2017’s reputation – Ariana’s version came across as authentic to the public eye. For the first time, a pop star was being championed for making the turn because it came naturally.
Leading up to the release of sweetener a lot had transpired. Ariana Grande had been traumatized and removed herself from the public spotlight following the Manchester Arena bombing that took place on May 22, 2017 during her Dangerous Woman Tour. Speaking to ‘British Vogue’ two months before ‘sweetener’ dropped in August, the superstar opened up about how the event caused PTSD. “I don't think I'll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.”
As her highly anticipated return to the music scene, Grande released “no tears left to cry,” an uplifting anthem that floats on the clouds the sweetener era showcased. With a dreamy instrumental during the chorus that resembled the brilliance of the dream pop genre during the late 80s, the superstar belts like the house music divas of the ‘90s. The lead single– which served as a statement of peace following what transpired in Manchester– showed that music indeed can be the best form of therapy. It also worked as the most perfectly on the nose lead of all of her LPs– as “no tears left to cry” contained the sweetness one would expect from an album named such.
To start off the record, “raindrops (an angel cried)” is sung in complete acapella. Just as a church goer would sing a hymn at a funeral, this is another moment where Grande belts out her pain. It’s drastically somber as a tribute to the 23 lives lost during the attacks. But the remainder of the album is actually fun– showing that Grande could in fact move on and cherish life. Or so we thought… As the album release came off the heels of her splitting with Mac Miller that May, and having to shut down rumors from a fan that she was the cause of the break up.
Much of the backbone of sweetener is a split of production between Pharrell Williams and her reliant Swedish production team of ILYA Salmanzadeh and Max Martin. It’s almost as if the two entities are dueling split personalities that marry cohesively in terms of sequencing.
Pharrell’s pairing with Ariana Grande came a bit unexpectedly– and audiences back then had split views on it. Pharrell’s sound had received a resurgence in mainstream pop, after he won a Grammys for Record of the Year with a feature on Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” in 2014 and for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his funk and dance pop heavy, ‘Girl’ in 2015– which included the jubilant smash “Happy.”
On sweetener we get a bunch of those funk and off-kilter wacky pop moments thanks to Pharrell’s production. “Blazed” rumbles with a ticking go-go rhythm, where Grande is breathing heavily in the background as Pharrell sings in his signature funky fashion. “The light is coming” jitters with stuttering reggae bass and arcade sound effects, suitably featuring Nicki Minaj and her zany presence. It’s obviously the most hyperpop Ariana Grande has ever gotten on wax, and for that it’s viewed as a cult classic amongst fans, just in the way people process Christina Aguilera’s 2010 album Bionic .
Oddly “blazed” and “the light is coming” starts out the album, but then as it progresses and starts getting mixed amongst the ILYA and Max Martin produced tracks, Pharrell’s production becomes sharper and more refined. The titular track features an energetic bounce that combines churchy keyboards paired with the softness of Grande’s vocals from her debuting Yours Truly era. The song starts out on that jingle worthy calmness, before forging into a trap commercial during the hook: “And then you get it, get it, get it, get it/Hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it/Flip it, flip it, flip it/You make me say oh, oh.” What seems to have started out as a sermon, is in fact an innuendo-filled number that an artist like Chris Brown would have been delighted to have the concept of. While, “successful” and “borderline” plays off the blueprint Pharrell ingrained in the mainstream consciousness so well in the early 2010’s— with Missy Elliott being featured on the latter.
On the flip side, ILYA and Max Martin were on sweetener for their main purposes of delivering the hits that would function better as guaranteed singles. “God is a woman” saw Ariana Grande in her most mature light to date– as the single captivates by giving feminist commentary, but also adding a new dimension on her quest of being a confident sex icon. It revs up like a motor akin to Rihanna’s 2011 Talk That Talk album, as audiences are introduced to Grande’s ability to do rapid pace rap-singing during the hook. By the end she’s belting once again, commanding the presence of the sound.
“Breathin” stayed in constant pop radio rotation for its motivational message of “just keep breathin and breathin and breathin.” Also in the vein of dream pop– in the light of “no tears left to cry”– the song hits its stride during the bridge where Grande adlibs “my, my air” in a way that’s akin to Hanson’s 1997 earworm of a pop gem, “MMMBop.” Meanwhile, “everytime” resonated with fans of trap&B for it’s an airy ballad discussing the toxicity of her relationship with Mac Miller (“you get high and call on the regular”). In a convincing fashion, she sings “I get weak and fall like a teenager” while questioning “Why, oh, why does God keep bringing me back to you?”
Balancing the themes of subtle religion and sexuality (in the way that Madonna succeeded with “Like A Prayer”), sweetener shines bright during its dreamy moments. “R.E.M.” became an instant classic amongst her fans, as well as a signature deep cut, for being the most earthy of those tracks. Originally made for Beyoncé and her self-titled 2013 album, “REM” successfully executes the line “You're such a dream to me” and the “don’t want to wake up” doo wop repetitiveness.
The moments she strays away from her main producers– “better off” and “goodnight n go”– foreshadow her future eras. “Better off” relies on pure trap&B as she finalizes her break up with Mac Miller, with the hip hop flare of Hit-Boy and orchestral strings (Positions ); while “goodnight n go” is a direct cover of her idol’s, Imogen Heap, 2006 song of the same name (eternal sunshine ) with the trap bounce existing on follow up, thank u, next . At the end of the album, she calls her fiancé “pete davidson” her soulmate in a one minute and 13 second interlude that has a cellular creep like what’s present on Positions .
To close out the album, she and Pharrell deliver “get well soon,” which picks up where the opening track left off. It’s a confessional gospel song that grounds her back in the reality of her PTSD– almost as if she’s saying the relationships were an escapism. There she sends off by saying “you can work your way to the top” and “I’m with you, I’m with you, I’m with you.”
It’s that defining moment on sweetener where audiences realized it’s not pretend for the singer. She’s actually found and matured into her sound as a full grown adult. There’s a reason why it won Ariana Grande her first ever Grammy (Best Pop Vocal Album in 2019).
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Related Tangents
“No tears left to cry” for being a pleasant uplifting anthem that showcased the bubbly energy in Grande will never die despite tragedy trying to hinder it.
“R.E.M.” for proving that she can give a Beyoncé-intended song justice and personalize it into her own.
“God is a woman” for being an intention driven single that defined the next phase of her career.
“Breathin” for also being a therapeutic release that brought a pleasant change to the direction of pop radio.
“Everytime” for being one of Ariana Grande’s best deep cuts.
Key Tracks
Although the beginning of the album starts out on a wacky path, by the fourth track, “R.E.M.” it picks up and never really lets go. Solid as a concept, the album is both personal and full of twists and turns. The pacing and direction of utilizing three main producers was a brilliant move on her behalf. It involves risks and challenges that really helped her stand apart from her competitors and defined her as her own entity that could be taken seriously.