REACTION VIDEO: Ariana Grande’s new flow in ‘Positions’

As our fellow Arianators know, Ariana Grande released her 6th album, “Positions,” on October 29 at 11pm Central Time. She teased us with the drop of her single “Positions” a week before, which cranked up the anticipation. Grande hasn’t released an album since February 2019, and with all the trials 2020 has brought, we were elated for a new change in our daily playlists; let us tell you…she did not disappoint. We recorded our initial reactions, and after that, you’ll find our final thoughts and favorites!

Neela:

Before she released “Positions,” I did feel like her albums had unexplored areas. She’s done love songs and heartsick ones, but she definitely had more areas to cover, which I think she accomplished in this album. It had some R&B and jazz vibes, which is new for her. 

There were a lot of moments where I gasped because I couldn’t believe she used an electronic keyboard or had Doja Cat featured. My top songs are “West Side,” which gave me Bryson Tiller vibes, “Nasty,” which pushed the boundaries considering her past songs, and “Off the Table,” which had that beautiful harmony with The Weeknd. 

I’ve seen some criticism saying that the album had no blow out, belting vocal songs like “God is A Woman,” which I think is a good thing, as she shouldn’t  replicate her songs. The songwriting itself conveys her growth from the mourning in “Thank U Next” to her new era of self love, which we all can take inspiration from. Overall, I will be blasting “My Hair” in the car, and “Six Thirty” through my airpods in the hall. 

Jessie:

Well first of all, I love the whole album. I heard criticism that as the album continued, more songs were fillers rather than stand alone tracks, and I couldn’t disagree more. During my first listen of the album I probably said, “This is my favorite” during every song, as it just kept getting impossibly better. 

I have always been a fan of her more down to earth and personal songs, like “R.E.M,” “In My Head,” and “Get Well Soon.” These have been favorites of mine for a while, so this new album was right up my alley. I love every detailed layer of music and harmonization that she puts into all her songs, and this album definitely continued to impress on the production side of things. Ariana has definitely changed her sound, and I love how she isn’t afraid to take risks, create new styles, and explore her voice. I love the strings, I love the harmonies, I love the whistle notes, I love the runs, I love the lyrics, I love every single “Yuh”… I love it all. I hate picking favorites, but if I had to choose, my top two would be “My Hair” and “Love Language,” but I’ll definitely have new favorites by tomorrow.

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