Ariana Grande- Petal
Label: Republic
Producers: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Ilya
It’s been thirteen years since Ariana Grande released her debut record, and another five since her teenaged breakthrough on the Broadway and Nickelodeon circuits set the stage for her eventual pop superstardom. This amount of time passage makes it all the more remarkable that she’s coming off her most prominent era of stardom to date, with the blockbuster success of 2024’s Eternal Sunshine coinciding with her headlining status in the Wicked box-office phenomenon. Her status as a definitive figure of this generation, in both music and pop-culture as a whole, is sturdily secured. And yet, given that she remains in just her early-30s, her artistic legacy is still very much blossoming. Petal, certainly in its intention and ultimately in its execution as well, is clear evidence of this fact.
It is not an album to be mined for infectious pop bangers, though select tracks are gloriously unassuming in their contagion. Rather, this is a deeply confessional and personal collection of songs. In several ways, it’s similar to The Tortured Poet’s Department, in that it’s essentially a singer-songwriter album that’s presented against a densely lush and moody pop backdrop, rather than a folksy coffeehouse atmosphere. Building upon the overtones of Sunshine, this is certainly Grande’s most unflinchingly raw as a lyricist. As one of modern society’s most documented and scrutinized celebrities, she uses her pen to unravel an onslaught of painful–and ultimately persevering–reflections on the undeniable costs of fame and fortune.
The title track serves as the central anchor of this theme, likening Grande’s existence in the public-eye to that of a petal in the pavement. Permeated by entrancing electropop and R&B-tinged dressing that is at once spooky and sultry, and predominantly moderate tempos, Grande navigates the conflicting side-effects of her success through a variety of emotional perspectives. On tracks like opener “Kiss Me” or “Stay”, she trades in the toxic romances of her past for those deeper connections that give her the solidarity needed to triumph above all the chatter. At her most vulnerable, on a moment like “Freak”, we find her seemingly pondering what her life would have been if she had not achieved fame. Stylistically, Mariah Carey remains Grande’s most identifiable influence, not just in terms of raw vocals, but also in her increasingly suave ability to meld pure pop and progressive R&B overtones.
But if there’s a truly common thread flowing through Petal, it’s in those moments where Grande really finds her true power and conviction, and uses it to her advantage. This shines through on cunningly confident moments like “Hate That I Made You Love Me”, the title track, the seductive “Big Feelings”, the vengeful “Like I Do”, and the brash “Never Get Over Me”. On these moments, we find Grande slowly taking down her adversaries with a burning, unassuming, and nevertheless biting dismissiveness. The fact that the majority of these tracks can easily double as a take-down of an ex-lover or the viscous paparazzi that analyzes her every waking move makes them all the more potent and cathartic. It shows the trolls and the haters that via her songwriting she too can put her life under a microscope, and weaponize it to overcome their toxicity.
Eight albums into her career and we’re well aware that Grande’s voice, well unquestionably pure and soaring, has always been a bit benign in terms of emotionally expressive range. This is more exposed on the stripped and intimate tones that define this album, but she uses that quality to her advantage the majority of the time. Once again, similar to the aforementioned Tortured Poets Department from Taylor Swift, these vocal deliveries can initially feel monotonous and even laborious. However, as the listener begins to absorb the cutting lyrics and their core emotions on repeat plays, there is a layer of confident and resilient indifference and dismissiveness that translates into a long-term potency. This is strongly asserted by the closing ballad, “Nowhere, Nobody”, an assured and resolute closing number that finds Grande letting go of chasing perfection, and instead embracing what she has found in the present moment, and trusting where it takes her next.
Does the album beg for a banger or additional moments like “Hate That I Made You Love Me” or “Bad Thing (Bunny Hop)”? Certainly. But, that’s not the true intention of this album. Rather, Petal clearly exists to exorcise and unload the emotions that have been weighing on Ariana Grande’s chest, mind, and soul at a nearly suffocating weight for some time. It continues to reveal a reflective side of her that many pop stars would be too trepidatious to explore, but it’s a choice that also helps separate the true artists of our time from the sheer hitmakers. I could see this album becoming a dark-horse fave for pop-heads, but it’s one that may take some time to fulfill that prophecy.
Track Listing:
- “Kiss Me” (Ariana Grande, Ilya)
- “Hate That I Made You Love Me” (Grande, Max Martin, Ilya)
- “Petal” (Grande, Ilya, Martin)
- “Stay” (Grande, Ilya, Martin)
- “Oh Well” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Big Feelings” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Freak” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Warning Signs (Interlude)” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Like I Do” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Never Get Over Me” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Bad Thing (Bunny Hop)” (Grande, Ilya)
- “Nowhere, Nobody” (Grande, Ilya)
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