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| Still not rich enough to afford a full outfit. |
Honestly, before behemoth single Problem filled airwaves the world over with its awesome catchiness I was pretty much completely unfamiliar with Ariana Grande, some may say ignorant to her work. I knew of her, sure, but I didn’t know she had a top 10 album in the UK nor did I know a top 10 single in America plus said album hitting number one there. Problem proved itself a game changer in her career and with a little help from Iggy Azalea Ariana grabbed herself a more adult consumer base and thus immense success. Now she’s released her new album My Everything and what I’m here to tell you is if it’s good. Is it good like opening a new tub of Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Frozen Yoghurt? Or is bad like opening a new tub of Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake Frozen Yoghurt only to find it contains cotton wool. Not a satisfying experience I bet!
There’s an Intro to kick things off and it’s a very demure affair, with lovely harmonies and pretty vocal touches. I’m normally not a fan of an intro track, they usually get deleted from itunes in order to get to the ‘good stuff’, but in this case it’s not unpleasant but ultimately it’s unnecessary. Once the pianos trickle out of earshot your treated to the famous horn intro of Problem and the rap styling of Iggy Azalea. It’s an upbeat, at times incredibly fun, track and stands out like the proverbial sore thumb on My Everything. The only similarly paced moments come in the sounds of Hands On Me (feat. A$AP Ferg) and epic collaboration Bang Bang (bonus track) with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. The former is a likeable if not slightly predictable R&B number where the latter is an epic club-soul banger with startling vocal turns from Ariana and Jessie, plus a solid rap verse from Nicki. I shouldn’t leave out album highlight Break Free, a song so great you’ll put it on your gym playlist 10 times. It’s one of those pop songs that only comes around every few years; a camp, electronic pop-spree with superb production from Gaga collaborator, Zedd.
The rest of the album is an array of R&B slow jams, mid tempo electro R&B collaborations and some ‘heartfelt’ ballads. One Last Time, Why Try and Best Mistake (Feat. Big Sean) are all decent tracks, with the first taking top marks for its gorgeous bridge-chorus build up and stunning vocal coos. Best Mistake wouldn’t be out of place on Ciara’s latest eponymous collection, Ariana doing her best turn as an R&B diva sampling Notorious B.I.G and Diana Ross. It’s refreshing that My Everything hasn’t followed fully in the electro-pop footsteps of Ariana’s peers. Although there are electronic inspired moments, including Max Martin penned Love Me Harder, which is backed by dark, rumbling synths and vocally supported by Trilogy stars The Weeknd, My Everything maintains a strong R&B flavour throughout.
Unfortunately, the ballads let the album down. Just a Little Bit of Your Heart is a sappy, bland piano backed love song and it’s really quite boring and where there’s no doubt that Ariana can hit those high notes, when she hits them her diction suffers quite significantly. The title track is another piano ballad. It’s much better than its predecessor, but again in contrast to the sass found throughout the album it seems a little alien.
My Everything is a strong sophomore album. I have to give Ariana points for maintaining the R&B flavour of her debut and dodging music trend imitation (there’s not one collaboration with Calvin Harris!). With a few writing credits she raises her profile further and even puts herself ahead of some of more experienced peers who some might say are a bit bloody lazy (they shall remain nameless). There are dips in quality particularly in the ballads but thankfully there is not one obvious filler track here. It’s a fun collection of songs, a few of which are pleasant but forgettable. Then there some that are so brilliant I may as well stop reviewing pop music because nothing could ever be better.
3 / 5
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