Ariana Grande: Posistions

 It seems one of the most popular artist's of this decade is back with 2020's Positions. now before even listening to this album I am having some issues. Now I know the target audience of Grande, around 14-15 year olds, and by studying this album with all its expliciteries I cannot possibly imagine how her PR team allowed this to be released. It is vastly innapropriate and immature for such an audeicne, and only delving in do the issues start to grow. I would rather not get into the true meaning behind the title however looking inside the problem only develops further. One only has to look at track two to see the vastness of the issue. I won't let this cast judgement over the music itself but honestly outside the tracks themselves it is something which really should have been assessed prior to the release, it's not like the advergae age of her listeners are a complete mystery to the label.

So lets Start out with the Stand Out tracks, the ones which I took the most from in this album:

Motive: Motive seems to be the party track for this album, much faster going,and for the most part I actually liked this one, nice flow, the beat isn't awful and actually fits the rest of the song. The song is pretty decent up until Doja Cat, whose voice does nothing but annoy me. Also a bit repetitive but I'll let it go for this one as the beat helps to cover that up a bit. On the whole it is one of the better ones on this LP. 

love language: certainly differant - to start with I was quite worried what we were being let in for. However by the verse it was certainly redeemed, the lovely piano running in and out the verse certianly makes it sit outide the main pack of nonsense on the album. Actual texture and instruments bring it up to the top of the album for me. Would be great if it at some points didn't replicate what sounds like MarioKart soundtrack but on this album I'm not going to get that picky. Very nice to be listening to something somewhat new on the album. Sadly though, stupid add-on the end, pointless.

saftey net: This is on the better side of the album in my opinion, I like the tune a lot more, the minor key helps to balance out the beat track quite well, which thankfully isnt too invasive in this track. Lyrics for once are both audiable and not awful. The pre chorus is really good, stand out of the song, good build up to the chorus, which I think is good ut could have a bit more oomph after such a good build up. Ty Dollar Sign is a good addition to this track, his voice works well with what has been crafted. I thought that that vocal part would be annoying but actually sits nicely. Overall could be the best track of the album. 

Next the sort of Ok tracks, not great but not terrible - very much middle level stuff

pov: By the end of the album I would have been drianed if not for well placed breaks. pov ends the track list on a slow note, however she seem's to have learned her lessons, not to make a slow song with no texture. There are some classic errors with a overly synthed background with backing singers adding not much, but texture wise it has improved vastly. The lyrics aren't nonsense and the song actually sounds like actually music was written for it. The strings are the stand out of it again. The chorus also managed to do what other here couldn't, it delivers the build properly, not dropping after a build up prior. The bridge is also an actual bridge, sounding not just like an off-time verse. Overall, pretty solid. 

posititions: The title track of this album. Overall I think the main track is alright, I like the beat and the acoustic guitar mix in the background, the Chord pattern is one I certainly favour ( I'm a lover of the minor key myself ). I think my main issue with this is the clarity of the track. The lyrics are at best unaudable, the ones which I can make out are about as meaningful as the Transformers films. If this is what is supposed to be selling the album its a worry, as after two to three listens I would imagine it would blend into the rest of the album. 

west side: At the start there doesn't seem to be much going on past the reverse notes, and it seems to reflect much of the other album songs. There a brief glimmers of differance however, the nice reverse notes do add something the other songs lack. Apart from this however there isn't much else being given to us in this one, and for that reason it ends up strictly mid-field. The repetetive nature certainly drags it down again. 

off the table: The Weekend was something which I looked at to redeem this song, as for the msot part I think their stuff is pretty solid. The slow aspect of the song is quite nice, but it still doesn't ocme out much to me, and not due to that slower nature. The Weekend delivers some good lyrics ( only took 5 or so tracks on the album to find some ) but there is something missing from this one, and I can't quite put my finger on it, as usually I like stuff like this. It could bwe the synth, it could be Ariana's flow? For once I'm confused by one of these songs. Perhaps some differant sounds throughout would be an improvement, somehting more like the violin at the end throughout the whole song would be brilliant. 

my hair: on the surface I thought the tune to this was one of the best of the album; a) because it was somewhat differant to all the other songs and b) it utilises a nice chill feel with an accompanying bass line that really solidifies this song. For this reason alone I put it in the stand out tracks, however do not think it is without its flaws as again what drags it down is the atrociously bad lyrics. Unintersting and silly the lyrics on how to caress her hair feels unerving, something which let down an otherwise good song. 

Shut Up: The first track on the album, very nice violin intro and riff throughout the song, especially considering that I was expecting that this album would be ( and sadly is ) monotone beats for the most part. Let down by the chorus which feels very copy paste. The classical interlude however is very intersting, not expected and I wish the whole song was mostly that if I am brutally honest. 

Lastly the filler, the stuff which is B Roll material:

34 + 35: This represents what I was expecting from the album, and in that I mean not much. It shows what is wrong with a lot of popular music these days, not a lot offered in the song and none of it intersting. There are a few lines which I though could redeem it in the pre chorus but by the chorus the lyrics and the flow just let it down massivly. The term repetitive is somehting which shines true of this, as it does sound exaclty like most of the previous songs but also previous albums ! It seems I was right to be worried going into this one. 

just like magic: There seems to be an ongoing theme with this album, bad lyrics. This song is very bland and the lyrics don't really help with that. The lack of any sort of musical technique is shocking, with no instruments apart from someone holding down the synth key for a couple of bars at a time. The fact is that nothing really comes out from this song, which is why it has ended up at the bottom for me. 

six thirty: Bland, standard song on this album, thought there was some hope when the strings came in and some actaul texture came it but it is so underused and completelty trampled by the stupid Ariana beat machine and background "oooooooooo's", dissapoinitng. No more to really be said on this one.

nasty: I reiterate what I said about six thirty, bland. Nothing to it, from the stupid talking intro to the verses which ring nothing but drowsyness to the whole song. There is no change in anything from the verse ot the chorus and just strians out into an ongoing backtrack with no texture. Once again Grande's obscene and simple lyrics do nothing for it. 

obvious: *sigh*, by this point in the album I get lost to what track I am truly on, and I'm not just lost in the album itself. This song sounds not only like other album song, not only like other Ariana songs, but I am at the point where I am just hearing generic pop music to the Nth degree. It just feels..... Lazy. 

Overall: On the whole, very repetitive. The album, as you can see, had nothing which overlly stood out to me, sure there we're some solid tracks, but most of it was wasted potential or just utter drivel. Alot of the time it did really feel copy pasted from previous albums or the top charts. Orginality is something which for me makes albums stand out, and here it shows as not much here I think I would listen to on a regular basis ( minus saftey net which I got behind after a couple of listens) and I certainly would'nt return to listen to the whole 41 minutes in one again.

My rating: 5/10

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