Every New Zealand #1 single…
8
Positions by Ariana Grande
Topped the NZ chart for 2 weeks from 2 November 2020.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera was born in Boca Raton, Florida, to an Italian-American heritage. She started her career in musicals and as an actor, appearing on the teen series Victorious. She transitioned into a recording career, releasing her debut album Yours Truly in 2013 at 20.
Grande occupies a sweet spot between pop and R&B, energetic and earthy.
Positions
‘Positions’ was the lead single from Grande’s sixth album, also named Positions.
In hindsight, ‘Positions’ marks the end of Grande’s imperial phase. It’s a good lead single, but the album wasn’t as acclaimed as her three previous records.
It’s surprisingly low-key for a lead single from a major pop artist. There’s little drama, just a well-written mid-tempo pop song. It’s relatively traditional, with a pizzicato guitar and violin in the arrangement, as well as Grande harmonising with herself.
‘Positions’ celebrates Grande’s relationship with real estate agent Dalton Gomez – the pair would later marry in 2021, then divorce in 2023. Gomez also came up with the music video’s concept, with Grande fabulously dressed in the White House.
I have an amazing team, and I work with a lot of really great people, but I control every single shot. I control every little thing, and I used to not, and I used to be able to pass things off and kind of trust people with other things and then it would go horribly wrong. Now the only option is to literally fill every position.
I look at my mom. My mom’s an engineer, like the most fierce badass in the world. I think that I learned a lot of that from her because she does everything herself as well. She has an amazing company, and she has incredible employees and brilliant engineers, that are manufacturing marine communication equipment.
Arian Grande, Zach Sang Show (edited for clarity)
My verdict
I have a lot of time for Grande. She’s my favourite diva, with her distinctive vocal slur. She delivers upbeat pop songs alongside big ballads.
Coming after big, meaningful Grande singles like ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ and ‘Thank U, Next’, ‘Positions’ feels airy and light. But it’s elite pop fluff with a great vocal melody and an interesting arrangement.
My favourite moment is the line “But I get tired of runnin’, f*** it
Now, I’m runnin’ with you (With you)”
The Aftermath
Following Positions, Grande’s largely focused on her film work. She’s starred in the blockbuster Wicked movies, and has only released one pop album since 2020. The ‘Positions’ single feels like the tail end of her golden era, along with the Dangerous Woman, Sweetener, and Thank U Next albums.
Read more
7 Comments
Leave a Reply
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:
Subscribe
Subscribe to receive new posts from Aphoristic Album Reviews.
She has a good voice…just not my style really. I remember her most on Nickelodeon because my son watched a show she was in when he was around 12 or so.
Though I like a few of her songs, especially “Thank U, Next”, I’ve not been much of a fan. That said, I’ve loved her in the two Wicked films, the second installment of which I just saw yesterday.
I really like this song and though I don’t like everything on the ‘Positions’ album, I think there are some good tracks on there. “POV,” the closing track, is my favorite on the album.
Glad someone else likes it. I think the album as a whole was a bit disappointing after Dangerous Women, Sweetener, and Thank U Next. It was pretty amazing when she was writing pop bangers about PTSD.
Oh that’s right! I almost forgot about the Manchester bombing. I didn’t pay much attention to ‘Sweetener’ and ‘Thank U Next,’ but I’ll take your word for it! Plus, I’ve read Ariana Grande album rankings that said ‘Positions’ was a step down from the previous two records.
It’s a lot less ambitious. ‘Ghostin’ is way deeper than you’d expect from Grande – it’s kind of amazing.
I think I listened to “Ghostin'” once, but I’ll give it another go!