![]() ![]() ![]() Whether that music was executed within the constraints of quarantine (as in “ How I’m Feeling Now” or “ folklore”) or simply released during the pandemic (“ Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” “ Future Nostalgia,” “ Chromatica”) isn’t really the point. Poptimists routinely clamor to crown the most emblematic quarantine releases, only to discard them weeks later in favor of the next, more perfect music of the moment. Wresting symbolic timeliness from new album releases has become an even headier pastime than usual during this period when all of our lives feel as if they’re on hold. The easy, midtempo track, about being a jack-of-all-trades lover-a spiritual descendant of Destiny’s Child’s “Cater 2 U,” if you will-is nestled, on the album, alongside thirteen other tracks that are similarly concerned with flights of fucking, among other things. This provides Grande the opportunity to cosplay Jackie O in her way, with sexed-up sixties silhouettes courtesy of Gigi Hadid’s frequent stylist, Mimi Cuttrell (who also worked on the video for Grande’s “God Is a Woman”). The music video for “Positions,” released on the same day, swings viewers into the White House for a fly’s-eye view of The Ari Administration. Perhaps caught up in the mood myself, I didn’t bother to consider other possible meanings of the title until the album’s lead single was released, on October 22nd. Still, the announcement of Grande’s sixth studio album, and its title-“Positions”-was met with anticipation, and maybe a small bit of trepidation, over what an outright sexual album from this artist would look like-as if she hadn’t already donned a black latex bunny hood several albums prior. Grande has largely escaped the narrative of sexual rebellion that has stuck to other pop-star alums of children’s programming, who have tended to sublimate adult desires into experiments in new genres, with tear-away wardrobes to match. Seuss-style-on a car, on the bus, at the laundromat, by the watercooler-as Grande sang the memorable hook: “He giving me that good shit / That make me not quit.” There’s something special about the moment a pop star takes the opportunity to cuss in key. ![]() In the song’s music video, everyday couples got it in where they could, Dr. On “Everyday,” Ari again sang the praises of a marathon man, silkily, accompanied by the marathon hit- and baby-maker, the rapper Future. The album’s first expletive belonged to the then-reigning queen of hip-hop, Nicki Minaj, on “Side to Side,” a song about the squishy pleasure of finding oneself temporarily hobbled after a round-the-clock sex romp. Ariana Grande’s voice could never be called demure, not even in its lowest or breathiest registers, or in its manifestation as the endearingly eccentric latter half of the Nickelodeon duo “Sam & Cat.” Yet it wasn’t until the release of her third album, “Dangerous Woman,” in 2016 (well out of the way of that year’s election), that her music was permitted an explicit rating. ![]()
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