Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album thank u, next is the pop icon’s most personal and revealing album yet. Coming less than six months after Sweetener, a musically diverse album produced by Pharrell Williams, Grande makes a successful return back to pop royalty.
thank u, next comes months after a devastating year for Grande following the repercussions of the 2017 Manchester bombing, a devastating split from ex-fiance Pete Davidson, and the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller. The album gives a peek into Grande’s personal life after the public watched it crumble before their eyes.
The album explores and celebrates Grande’s newfound singlehood, reflecting on lessons learned from past relationships in the title song “thank u, next.” She describes the excitement and adventure in a no-strings-attached relationship in “bad idea” and “bloodline,” the latter in which she declares she “don’t want you in my bloodline/ just wanna have a good time.”
Returning to her ever-sassy and confident roots, she winks at listeners in the cheeky “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored.” The music video is an ode to Grande’s revamped self-love, despite a public and devastating year.
“Ghostin,” an eerie song rumoured to be about the death of Mac Miller, confesses, “I’m a girl with a whole lot of baggage.” The heartbreaking tune is accompanied by Grande’s breathtaking voice that perfectly captures the vacancy left by a loved one. The ballad is complemented by “fake smile,” in which Grande expresses frustration with pretending to be happy after she’s “been through way too much.”
“In my head” has an intro which features a voicemail from Grande’s long-time friend Doug Middlebrook, in which he reminds her that “you’re in love with a version of a person that you’ve created in your head.” Here Grande innovatively incorporates the personal voicemail, not often used in pop music, this personal flair drives home the personal message of the team.
Celebrating the resistance, strength, and power of womanhood, Grande flaunts her success lyrically in “7 rings”— “I should be a sad bitch. Who would’ve thought it’d turn me to a savage?”—and “NASA”—“you don’t wanna leave me but I’m tryna self discover.”
Despite the increasingly honest, painful, and revealing lyrics attached to many of the songs in thank u, next, Grande manages to revive the genre of pop, which had been gasping for air for months. Her youthful energy and vision, thanks to the help of pop production masters Savan Kotecha and Max Martin, is perfectly encompassed in an album coated in a bubblegum pink aesthetic.
thank u, next is Grande’s promise to the music world: she’s “learned from the pain,” and she’s just getting started.
Graphic by Paloma Callo
