Music

Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! children’s health initiative did not, unfortunately, produce listenable music. And no, we don’t know who “Salad Bar” and “The Veggies” are either.

The 15-year-old Ariana Grande made her professional debut in 13, written by Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown. It was billed as the first Broadway musical with a cast entirely made up of teenagers — and while it may have worked on the stage, it doesn’t quite translate on record. “A Little More Homework” is about, of course, growing up, but it keeps coming back to its cliched homework metaphor. A barely recognizable Ariana shows up for a much-needed bridge.

On their second musical collaboration, Ariana and her now-ex-boyfriend, Nathan Sykes of U.K. boy band The Wanted, deliver a wet blanket of a piano duet where every line is a different cliché. Ariana only appears on the single remix, but even her voice can’t salvage it.

Ariana takes two solos on “Brand New You,” her biggest feature on 13, which ends the musical with a gospel-style climax. “Brand New You” is charming, sure, but it’s hard to imagine it appealing to anyone over the age of 13.

A bonus track about being misunderstood by the media — a message Ariana would later deliver in more compelling fashion.

It feels fluffy and nostalgic like cotton candy, but by 2014, Ariana had already outgrown this outtake.

One of Big Sean’s pettiest, least-charming songs, where Ariana sings a hook so lightweight it barely registers. “Research” has none of the chemistry of the one-time pop power couple’s previous two collaborations.

“Only comes one time a year…/ Let me sneak into your speakers”, sings Ariana, briefly welcoming you to her more modern, downtempo second Christmas EP.

A cute, ‘50s-styled pop song about growing up from NBC’s Hairspray Live! production.

Ariana covered this Hercules highlight for the We Love Disney tribute album. But for once, her voice isn’t big enough to handle it — her version doesn’t compare to the attitude of the original.

The fact that Ariana manages to squeeze out a genuinely tender verse between Jimmy Fallon’s robotic intonations is a Christmas miracle in between lumps of coal. Without her and Megan’s valiant efforts, this would be by far the worst song on this list.

The chorus of “Main Thing” goes, “You, oh you’re really different baby” — but the song does nothing to distinguish itself from Positions’ other short synth-R&B bonus tracks.

Ariana’s first time hosting SNL was a blast — and this is a genuinely funny satire of how hard it is to fit political representation into three-minute pop songs. (“This is not a feminist song/ So technically it can’t be wrong!”) But Ariana, unlike the cast, plays it totally straight — unfortunately not using any of her old Nickelodeon comedic chops.

Ariana executive-produced this soundtrack to the Kristen Stewart-fronted Charlie’s Angels film reboot, which turned out to be a disappointment — especially for an era where blockbuster pop soundtracks tend to be a thing of the past. Supposedly a leftover from the Dangerous Woman sessions, “Got Her Own” was revived in 2019. The lyrics sound like a pastiche of several Destiny’s Child songs” — he might got money, but I bet she got her own/ You know she independent when she leave here all alone” — but the trap beat underneath is surprisingly more prominent than Grande and Monét’s sleepy vocals. When it fades out at just over the two-and-a-half minute mark, it sounds like all involved forgot to finish recording the song.

A cover of Lesley Gore’s 1963 ode to female empowerment, Chenoweth and Grande sound like they’re recording this in two different decades — Kristen with her mannered, theatrical voice, and Ariana with her under-enunciated modern delivery. Although their version builds to a decent climax, it feels more like a recital than a cover that adds anything new.

The weakest official track on any of Ariana’s official album tracklists, “Hands on Me” is a dissonant, mostly unconvincing attempt at a sex jam. Not only do Ariana and A$AP Ferg have no chemistry, neither of their voices belong on Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins’ beat — she sounds too airy, and he too goofy to take seriously. Maybe Destiny’s Child could have pulled it off in 1999, but not Ariana Grande in 2014.

Though it’s a pleasure to listen to in the moment, with an infectious synth-funk groove and a catchy spoken chorus, “Worst Behavior” doesn’t summon the effort to be memorable beyond its two minutes.

“Winter Things” closes Christmas & Chill with a summery ukulele ditty, Ariana dreaming of a white Christmas.

Taken from DreamWorks’ Trolls, “They Don’t Know” was co-written and produced by Justin Timberlake — though you wouldn’t guess just from hearing it. “They Don’t Know” is no “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” — just the kind of perfectly adequate children’s soundtrack song Ariana could record in her sleep.

This is a unique idea — an ode to cute boys, sung by a gay man and two straight women. But the singsongy end result feels too much like a children’s novelty song. And Meghan and Ariana don’t even get to have a sing-off!

A collaboration between these two promises so much. But “Faith,” from the animated film Sing, is too overproduced for them to have much chemistry — like a Glee tribute to Little Richard.

Ariana is a natural at playing a vain popstar in Adam McKay’s climate-change satire Don’t Look Up, but this power ballad — co-written by Nicholas Britell of Succession fame — falls flat. Reaching for both sincerity and humor, it doesn’t have enough of either.

On “Bad to You,” three typically fiery women lightly roast their uncommitted male partners: “Loving you and hating you is in, depending on the day/ Why are you only good to me when I’m bad to you?” The Max Martin and Ilya-produced song is as underwritten and forgettable as they come — not even Nicki’s guest verse can muster the energy to save it. Still, Ariana and Normani seem destined for a more meaningful collaboration, especially after Grande co-wrote Normani’s excellent solo debut single “Motivation” that same year.

Written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the duo behind Frozen, this feels like just the right amount of silly, if not particularly memorable, family-friendly fun. It’s ultimately more Menzel’s song, but it’s still a treat whenever we get to hear Grande match the tempo of a live jazz band — even if the lyrics feel more suited to the Ariana of 2013 than 2019.

Ariana’s long-forgotten debut single isn’t a bad song, but it was totally wrong for her. With a chorus that quoted “What’s Up”, 4 Non Blondes’ 90s alt-rock power ballad, “Put Your Hearts Up” was a motivational anthem that immediately typecast her as a bubblegum-pop tween starlet. Ariana stopped promoting the song, and later called called it “inauthentic and fake… the worst moment of my life.” The Ariana Grande we know has always had good taste in songs, in part because the failure of “Hearts” motivated her to do better.

It took the best part of a decade until Ariana finally got to collaborate with her idol Mariah Carey. We can only speculate about how much that moment meant to Grande… but by 2020, it was positively weird to see two artists of her and Jennifer Hudson’s stature playing backup vocalists to Mariah on a lesser rerecording of a 2010 single. Was a Christmas song the only neutral ground where these A-list divas could meet? Or one day, will we get the Mariah/Ariana duet we truly deserve? (Thankfully, our prayers were answered four years later, with Ari and Mariah’s “Yes, And?” remix.)

Come for astrologer Diana Garland’s explanation of the 29-year Saturn return phenomenon, stay for the spacey synths that drift into Eternal Sunshine’s title track. Although technically the only song here where Ariana doesn’t actually appear, “Saturn Returns” is still a welcome 40-second blip of musical surrealism.

This tiny, lush interlude introduces the five new tracks on the Positions rerelease. It’s impressive how much melodic variation Ariana can inject into what’s essentially one line repeated for one minute: “I’ve been waiting for someone like you…”

The penultimate song on Hairspray Live! is a raucous, uptempo Motown pastiche that celebrates racial integration — how can you possibly hate it?

The one truly old-fashioned song on Christmas & Chill, where Ariana proclaims that she’ll love her boy 365 days a year.

Ariana rewrites “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a twinkling R&B jam that’s, mercifully, just half the length of the original.

A funky, drum-heavy Dangerous Woman track in the Rich Harrison-like vein of “Crazy in Love” and “1 Thing,” though it can’t compete with either of those modern classics.

“Now I’ve tasted chocolate and I’m never going back”, sings Ariana’s cheerleader Penny, as her African-American boyfriend Seaweed unties her from a bed. John Waters probably loved this song.

On a track written and produced by Pharrell, the legendary Cuban-American jazz musician Arturo Sandoval pays tribute to his decades-long musical legacy. Combining hip-hop 808s with traditional Latin jazz instrumentation, “Arturo Sandoval” evokes just a fraction of his tumultuous life story, but Ariana and Pharrell narrate it with an understated sense of grandeur: “Arturo Sandoval and the story that he tells/ Reminds me/ Of El Dorado…”

To quote the legendary Chaka Khan herself: “It’s a cute song… It’s not going to change the world, okay?” The Motown-inspired production is admittedly well-crafted, especially the unexpected use of slide guitar — there’s just not much of a composition within it. Grande and Khan could have done much better, though it doesn’t seem like they’ll be collaborating again anytime soon.

“Focus” was the original first single from Ariana’s third album Dangerous Woman, but it turned out to be a rewrite of “Problem” — only wackier, and inferior in every way. Instead of Big Sean and Iggy Azalea, an uncredited Jamie Foxx provides a bewildering Ray Charles impression. Sure, it was catchy, but “Focus” was more meme than song. The rare outright flub in Grande’s catalogue, “Focus” — like “Put Your Hearts Up” — pushed her next album in the opposite direction, for the better.

Christmas & Chill’s best song cheekily asks, “Are you down for some of these milk and cookies?” Surprisingly, Ariana’s wouldn’t explore this sound further until Sweetener — jazzy chords, strings and hip-hop beats, almost a neo-soul vibe.

There are notoriously few good versions of “Santa Baby”, but at least Ariana’s is laugh-out-loud funny — she almost sounds like she’s making fun of the song itself. Liz Gillies, a longtime friend, plays the husky alto to Grande’s breathy soprano.

Ariana contributes a solid EDM-pop song to the Lorde-curated Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack, but Major Lazer’s harsh drop doesn’t quite match Grande’s sugary vocals.

Ariana duets with classical tenor Andrea Bocelli in Italian, on this cover of an Ennio Morricone composition from the 1984 film Once Upon a Time in America. Today’s pop stars rarely attempt this kind of classical crossover, but Bocelli’s tenor gels perfectly with Grande’s soprano. Syrupy, but heartfelt.

The final track on Yours Truly opens as an orchestral ballad, then abruptly becomes an EDM-lite banger in the chorus. The two styles don’t mix, but “Better Left Unsaid” paved the way for many more credible dance tracks of Grande’s to come.

Co-written by Harry Styles, this piano ballad grinds My Everything’s string of pop bangers to a halt. The song’s pretty, even a little bit poignant, but the lyrics (“I can’t find the words to say what I mean”) merely scratch the surface of Ariana’s heartbreak.

“L.A. Boyz” melds bubblegum, electro and power-pop into a relentlessly catchy song from Nickelodeon’s Victorious. Victoria Justice owns the verses, but Ariana nails the soaring high harmonies in the chorus.

“Popular Song” has an odd lineage: originally a Kristen Chenoweth solo from Wicked, it was rewritten by Mika for his 2012 album, then remixed again for Ariana’s Yours Truly. It doesn’t really fit on the album — Mika’s musical sensibility is more juvenile than Ariana’s. But it’s as charming as it is silly, and the Tim Burton-esque video is, well, wickedly funny.

This track from the Christmas Kisses EP finds Ariana doing an uncanny Mariah impression. Over “Little Drummer Boy”-inspired snares, she nails the exact breathy tone of Mariah’s high register — though the song itself doesn’t reach the heights of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.

Another Victorious cut that’s aged surprisingly well. Ariana sings this Xtina-lite song with a deeper, brassier tone than we’re used to — but aside from one enormous vocal run, Liz Gillies is the star of this one. Ariana wouldn’t be long for the Nickelodeon machine, but their team could write a hell of a teen pop banger.

With its jazzy, airy synth chords and West Coast hip-hop drums, “Borderline” feels like a throwback to the My Everything bonus tracks “Only 1” and “You Don’t Know Me.” “You know I’m the wifey type, babe…/ Once you tastin’ my ice cream, I bet you won’t ever leave,” sings Ariana, playfully insistent on settling down with her lover. Originally a Missy Elliott solo cut, her presence is always welcome — but her guest verse doesn’t outshine Ariana, either. Even so, “Borderline” doesn’t quite fit on Sweetener, and it’s too ephemeral to leave much of a lasting impression.

With its acoustic guitar and finger clicks, this Christmas Kisses track sounds more than a little like Céline Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.” It’s a silly premise: Ariana prays to Santa for snow, to delay her lover’s departure flight after the holidays — but she’s so committed that it’s genuinely moving.

Promotional remixes are rarely as phoned-in as this one — especially for a Lizzo single that had already been out for three and a half years! Ariana adds a handful of lines that sit too low for her natural register, and a few nice high ad-libs, which add up to less than one verse of material in total. She doesn’t drag it down — the song’s good with or without her — but there’s still no real reason for this to exist.

“Test Drive” commits a cardinal sin: It opens with a Bruce Hornsby-style ’80s synth-piano instrumental that we can’t wait to hear Ariana sing over… but the piano never returns! Instead, the song morphs into a sparkly, upbeat house track about a car metaphor: “Baby, I’m sold on you, so I don’t ever gotta/ Test drive nothin’!” With a final bridge and chorus, it might be worthy of the album proper.

This cute little two-minute track opens with one of Positions’ definitive lyrics: “I don’t wanna think too much/ I just wanna feel.” Over hip-hop drums and mysterious synth chords, Ariana calls out to a lover: “There’s more love if you follow emotions/ Meet me on the west side for me.” She doesn’t bother with a bridge or third chorus, but “West Side” works completely as an interlude — it is, after all, a prelude to a rendezvous.

“Nasty” opens with Ariana’s heavenly whistle tones, but never again reaches for those heights. It’s one of her more sexually explicit songs, but in every other way — lush melodies, floaty trap production — it just blends into Positions’ tracklist.

“Make Up” seems like one of the more joyful songs on Thank U, Next, but it’s about intentionally provoking a lover into makeup sex — “I’m stayin’ mad all day so we can let it out tonight!” But even through all the ups and downs of their relationship, Ariana knows everything will turn out okay. She won’t lose her shine — “highlight of my life, just like that Fenty Beauty kit.” Thank U, Next is full of little gems like “Make Up,” built around mellow reggae beats. Still, at less that two and a half minutes, it’s arguably the most lightweight song on the album.

Ariana Grande first performed “The Wizard and I,” Wicked’s signature showcase for Idina Menzel’s Elphaba, as a young teenager. Back then, she was a prodigy with Broadway aspirations — her vocal strength was already astonishing. Years later, she’s carved a very different path as a popstar, with a more soulful, almost unrecognizably different voice.

Recorded live for NBC’s A Very Wicked Halloween special, Ariana delivers a solid, though not quite spectacular rendition of “The Wizard and I.” She’s long since lost her theater-trained enunciation, but still seems totally at home within a Broadway-style setting. It’s worth watching just to see the visibly moved kids in the audience — no doubt inspired by Ariana, the same way she was by Idina Menzel. When Ariana was cast in the two-part Wicked film adaptation, it was a no-brainer — she’d been training for it her whole life. But when we finally see her on the silver screen later this year, it won’t be as Elphaba, but as Kristin Chenoweth’s Glinda.

“Lovin’ It” is a goofy but charming album cut driven by a jazzy piano vamp. How many different ways can Ariana sing “loving you” in the chorus?

Originally written by the iconic American songwriter Cole Porter in 1938, and perhaps best remembered for Marilyn Monroe’s version in the 1960 film Let’s Make Love, Ariana covered this song as a brief interlude for the Sweetener World Tour. Ariana clearly knows the material and the broader jazz-musical era well, but she chooses to remove all subtlety from Porter’s cheeky lyrical innuendo. She’s not just singing with audible auto-tune over a big-band arrangement in the middle of a pop arena show, she’s over-emphasizing every syllable — especially “daddy,” drawing out the very modern connotations of the word. It’s the closest she’s ever come to playing herself as a drag queen — intentionally provocative and hilarious.

Originally written by the iconic American songwriter Cole Porter in 1938, and perhaps best remembered for Marilyn Monroe’s version in the 1960 film Let’s Make Love, Ariana covered this song as a brief interlude for the Sweetener World Tour. Ariana clearly knows the material and the broader jazz-musical era well, but she chooses to remove all subtlety from Porter’s cheeky lyrical innuendo. She’s not just singing with audible auto-tune over a big-band arrangement in the middle of a pop arena show, she’s over-emphasizing every syllable — especially “daddy,” drawing out the very modern connotations of the word. It’s the closest she’s ever come to playing herself as a drag queen — intentionally provocative and hilarious.

Grande and Monét have been close friends since the latter co-wrote on Yours Truly, but this minor palate-cleanser single, released after Thank U, Next, is their first official vocal duet. A feather-light R&B cut, “Monopoly” seems like it was written, recorded, and filmed in an hour — but that’s the point! It’s most memorable for its quirky verse melody that jumps up almost, but not quite an octave: “where have you been?” It’s the sound of the two reminiscing on their friendship — and on the closing rap, the fun they had working together on the Thank U, Next sessions: “I’m so thankful working with my best friend, she the cheat code!”

It’s still hard to hear “Don’t Call Me Angel” removed from the enormous hype of its release, which combined three household-name stars with a Max Martin/Ilya production, and a glossy video from director Hannah Lux Davis. It’s by far the biggest song on the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack, but it’s also a total mess. Ariana’s in her natural element — sweet, but a little threatening. But the production’s too smooth and synthetic for present-day Miley, who also gets the clunkiest lyrics: “You know I/ I don’t like, that, boy!” Meanwhile, Lana’s narcotic, half-time bridge suits her well, but feels like it was beamed in from the Born to Die sessions seven years prior.

The worst part is, the three barely interact within their vocals or the video — Miley and Lana don’t even sound like they’re on the same song. That utter disregard for cohesion does give “Don’t Call Me Angel” an awkward, campy appeal — even if, much like the Charlie’s Angels reboot itself, it ultimately feels like a confused, corporate attempt at pop-feminist branding. “Independent Women” Part III, it was not.

The opening guitar riff here genuinely sounds like a Black Sabbath tribute, until it segues into a dark trap beat, then an unexpected major-key lift in the chorus. This song doesn’t reach true emo-rap, Juice WRLD-territory, but it’s unique to hear Ariana, Max Martin, and Ilya collaborating on such an ominous-sounding production. It’s a shame it lacks a true bridge or final chorus to elevate it — but still, “How I Look on You” is the one hidden gem from the otherwise middling Charlie’s Angels soundtrack.

Released in May 2020, the anxious early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Stuck with U” is a simple ballad about the silver lining of being housebound with your loved ones. It was a soundtrack for the moment, but also for every prom and wedding that had been postponed for the future. There’s not much to the song’s lyrics or melody, but Justin and Ariana harmonize well, building to a climactic final chorus. Yet they’re not able to summon the chemistry you’d expect — they were forced to record their parts separately, and it shows. We’re still holding out for a more substantial collaboration between Scooter Braun’s two most famous former clients, but it was enough for the song to debut atop the Hot 100, staying there for one week.

Co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder, “Why Try” is the rare Ariana ballad that might actually go too big: “Now we’re screaming just to see who’s louder,” she belts in the chorus. It’s all melodrama, but the hushed verses and bridge are more compelling.

This Yours Truly cut was recorded in 2012, when Ariana was just 17. Over doo-wop backing vocals and a light hip-hop beat, Ariana fantasises “about you, you, and only you”, before drifting off into her dreams. “Daydreamin’“ is an ode to a young crush, but the song closes on a tale of lifelong love, with a clip of her grandparents telling the story of how they met.

On 2017’s Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, Calvin Harris pulled a DJ Khaled, hiring an all-star cast of vocalists to vamp over his disco-funk tracks. Between Young Thug and Pharrell’s tradeoffs here, Ariana unfurls a soothing bridge, like a gentle breeze on a summer’s day.

“Only 1” is one of Ariana’s best bonus tracks. Over a boom-bap beat reminiscent of Lupe Fiasco’s “Kick Push,” Ariana gently matures past Yours Truly’s tales of infatuation: “I ain’t saying that I’m not deserving of you/ But I was dreaming bigger than I ever knew”. In 2018, the song reached its final form through a soaring rendition at the BBC, accompanied by an orchestra.

Sykes and Grande briefly dated in 2013, and this soulful Yours Truly piano ballad prematurely mourns the death of their relationship. It’s elegantly written and sung, though Sykes can’t match Ariana’s vocal fireworks.

Bieber’s original was one of the best pop songs of 2015, but it wasn’t written as a duet: “What Do You Mean?” should feel lonely, fragile, and Ariana’s adlibs add too much. Ariana’s version would’ve worked better as a straight cover — and indeed, this fanmade solo edit feels just right.

Ariana Grande and Macy Gray couldn’t sound more different, but Gray’s husky contralto is a perfect foil for Ariana’s pure soprano. On this bleak torch song from Dangerous Woman, Gray plays Grande’s conscience, begging her to walk away from a toxic lover.

“Fake Smile” is the flipside of “No Tears Left to Cry” — let her cry if she wants to! Whether she’s feeling anxious in public or scrolling through her timeline, being Ariana Grande isn’t easy: “I read the things they write about me…/ But every now and then it’s shocking, don’t blame me,” she sings in the second verse. The song’s lite-reggae vibes have none of the suffering-from-success woes of, say, Drake or The Weeknd — it’s simply about being honest with yourself, whoever you are. “Fake Smile” might be Ariana’s definitive statement on her social media-era fame, but it’s not quite as memorable a song as the very best of Thank U, Next.

As the lightest song on Dangerous Woman, “I Don’t Care” could easily be mistaken for a Yours Truly-era soul throwback. But it’s a touch sassier — “If I can’t be me, the fuck’s the point?” Ariana gently croons, letting go of other people’s preconceptions of her.

Sweetener’s opening track is, amazingly, Ariana’s only solo a cappella performance on record. On “Raindrops,” she sings just one chorus of The Four Seasons’ “An Angel Cried,” turning a doo-wop breakup song into a breathtaking lament. Ariana’s voice is just as haunting as the cavernous silence that surrounds her. In a coincidence that seems like fate, she learned after recording her version that Charlie Calello, one of the song’s writers, was a close friend of her late grandfather. “Raindrops” is just 38 seconds long, but the song and its video provide an essential foundation for the rest of Sweetener’s emotional journey.

Ariana Grande and SNL star Pete Davidson lasted just five months, but in that time, they got engaged, got matching tattoos — and in the most permanent move of all, she named a song after him. To some, that (correctly) rang alarm bells, but never fear: “Pete Davidson” is a sweet, universal love song that transcends the now-defunct relationship that inspired it. In just over a minute, Ariana sings “happy” 25 times, so you know she means it. “Pete Davidson” is the very essence of Sweetener — why not do what feels true to you right now?

Really, it might’ve needed to be a duet with someone who could respond to Ariana’s energy, regardless of gender — maybe Doja Cat should have featured here instead of on “Motive.” Instead, “Love Language” fades out too early, then gets a playful “Bad Guy”-style trap outro for all of 20 seconds. Though a nice surprise, it feels unrelated to the composition that came before — as if it could’ve just as easily closed out any other song on the album.

Named for the song’s co-writer Jason Robert Brown, “Jason’s Song” reunites the 13 composer and Ariana on this critique of modern celebrity culture, with a sense of humor: “You focused your frustration on a small detail/ Blew it out of scale, like my ponytail.” Grande and Brown have performed together several times, including the definitive rendition of “Jason’s Song” on The Tonight Show — featuring The Roots, and a ferocious jazz piano solo by Brown.

“My Everything” brings the album full circle, using the intro’s chords and arrangement to tell a tale of regret. “Now that he’s gone, my heart is missing something/ So it’s time I push my pride away,” confesses Ariana — nothing matters but the lover she’s lost. The song’s since taken on new significance: After the death of her grandfather, Ariana dedicated the song to him on her Honeymoon Tour, and she memorably performed it with the Parrs Wood High School Choir at One Love Manchester.

A gorgeous, “Pure Imagination”-inspired hymn, “Intro” cheekily leads into “Problem” — a song that’s anything but sweet. A little of the old Yours Truly magic, before something totally new.

Wham!’s iconic Christmas single has been covered countless times since 1984, but no one has ever outdone George Michael. Ariana’s version is one of the few that attempts an original interpretation, rewriting the verses for her own voice — an audacious choice that succeeds completely.

Ariana gets sassier with each new album, and this was the 2019 incarnation — an ode to wanting someone in your bed, but not your “Bloodline.” Over live horns and “Side to Side”-like reggae bass guitar, Ariana sets firm boundaries: “Get it like you love me/ But you don’t, boy, it’s just for show.” Where’s the fun in overthinking it? But even in a song as light as this, there’s insight into her newfound emotional maturity: “I know what you looking for, but I’m complete.”

Ariana often sings about falling head-over-heels in love, but “Sometimes” takes a gentler approach. Over acoustic verses, synthy choruses, and a stunning, vocoder-driven bridge, Ariana sings wistfully about a relationship that just works — because love shouldn’t have to be so difficult.

A desperate, lonely tale of post-breakup sex, Ariana coos sweet nothings she doesn’t entirely believe. “Just let me lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-love you”, goes the chorus, her voice broken up by digital effects — she can’t make a connection. The only thing that brings it down is a raunchy Lil Wayne verse that leaves too little to the imagination: “She grinding on this Grande, oh lord/ I’m drowning, I’m gon’ need that coast guard.”

NBC’s Hairspray Live! concludes with a hell of an encore; a celebration of civil rights, and a reminder that progress is never finished. But it’s also an excuse to stage a sing-off between two of pop’s biggest voices, and boy, do they deliver.

Upbeat Christmas songs are a dime-a-dozen, but this duet hits it out of the park. Kelly and Ari’s voices blend as if they’ve been singing together their whole lives, and the song — co-written by Clarkson herself — overflows with heart, playfulness, and just a sprinkling of melancholy.

It can be hard to sing about contentment in a relationship without sounding too mawkish — just ask Justin Bieber or Chance the Rapper — but “Obvious” is one of Ariana’s better efforts at doing so. As she sings about settling into a new love, she shows us how far she’s coming since the heady days of Thank U, Next: “The way you feel, somethin’ ’bout it’s healing/ I’m praying we don’t fuck this up.” Short but sweet — and the classic R&B-style melodic jumps in the chorus are worth the price of admission alone.

At this point about halfway through Positions, the album starts to feel a bit familiar. Every song is well-executed, but many lack the immediacy of Ariana’s more pop-oriented work. “Six Thirty” is a typical, triplet flow-driven trap-n-B cut that uses the titular clock position as a metaphor for commitment: “Are you down?…/ Down like six thirty?” Still, there are short glimpses of magic — the pre-chorus where her voice climbs upward, and especially her relaxed delivery over baroque strings in the bridge: “Am I enough to keep your love?/ When I’m old and stuff, will you still have a crush?”

Each of Ariana’s first three albums albums closes with a song about a former love: “Better Left Unsaid,” “My Everything.” But unlike its predecessors, “Thinking Bout You” ends Dangerous Woman without a sense of closure: “I don’t have you here with me/ But at least I have the memory.” The last chorus is triumphant, but ends abruptly — will they get back together?  Who knows?

The most mature song on My Everything, “Best Mistake” was a first for Ariana. Like a Broadway ballad with Drake production, “Best Mistake” stays quiet where most of her songs go big. Even Big Sean’s verse is unusually restrained. She confesses her feelings for an on-and-off paramour: “Can we please make up our minds/ And stop acting like we’re blind?” She answers her own question: “There’s no pot of gold in the rainbows we chase/ But we hold on…”

“I wanna say we’re going steady/ Like it’s 1954”, sings Ariana on “Tattooed Heart,” the best pure doo-wop cut on Yours Truly. Her vocal gifts are timeless, but the hip-hop hi-hats brought the song firmly into 2013.

One of the few songs on Yours Truly that hints at heartbreak, about a former lover who wants her back. But Ariana has no regrets. The track’s skittering R&B is gentle, but her lyrics are firm: “You can wish a thousand times/ But none of that will change my mind, boy.”

One of several Pharrell cowrites on Ariana’s fourth LP Sweetener, Williams’ minimalist touch is instantly recognizable. “The Light Is Coming” feels like a continuation of N.E.R.D.’s 2017 album No_One Ever Really Dies, which took a globalist approach to combining hip-hop, dance music and idealistic politics.

Ariana’s “big sister” Nicki Minaj handles the opening verse with ease, but this is bold new territory for Ariana herself — we’ve rarely heard her bring her pipes to such a melodically fragmented song. For once, she lets the track’s offbeat rhythms shape her voice, not the other way around. “The light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole,” raps Ariana over and over, a mantra for our conflicted times.

Don’t let Pharrell’s signature four-count intro deceive you — “Successful” is no “Blurred Lines.” In fact, it’s a celebration of women: “And girl, you too, you are so young/ And beautiful and so successful, yeah/ I’m so successful!” Much of Sweetener is an exercise in humility, but on “Successful,” Ariana appreciates how far she’s come in her life and career, while seducing her man at the same time. The track has an almost ASMR-like effect, accentuating the hiss of hi-hats, breaths, and every stray “s” syllable — an unlikely callback to Pharrell’s beat for Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Like Ariana says, “issa surprise.”

A love song dedicated to a musical instrument. If “Piano” seemed naïvely innocent in 2013, it feels a touch more timely now. “I could sing about how love is a losing battle…/ But I’d rather make a song they can play on the radio/ That makes you wanna grab your lover’s hand”, sings Ariana. She’s written many breakup songs since, but the message of “Piano” still rings true: cynicism is easy. Choose optimism.

The duo’s third collaboration, this rejoinder against intoxicating love finds Ariana in Doja’s home court for the first time. Surprisingly, the two choose to match each other’s energy — with Doja less brash than usual, singing the breathy falsetto hook, while Ariana almost whisper-raps over the TikTok-style trap beat. The song’s almost modest considering the star power involved, but it’s still thrilling to hear the two meet at the height of their powers.

In the intro to her seventh album, Ariana poses a question — how can you tell if someone’s the one? By the end, she’s found her answer — when every moment feels special, “there’s never gonna be an ordinary thing/ as long as I’m with you.” A brief coda to a brisk 35-minute album, “Ordinary Things” sounds more like Positions’ bonus tracks than a closer. But that’s fitting, because love doesn’t always have a definitive conclusion. As the song fades, Ariana’s beloved grandmother Marjorie reminisces about her late husband: “I could’ve packed up and left a million times… It’s not that we never fought. You can overcome that.” It’s a beautiful echo of “Daydreamin’” 11 years prior, which ended with a clip of both her grandparents. In an amazing achievement for a 98-year-old, “Ordinary Things” made Marjorie Grande the oldest person ever to chart on Spotify.

In the life of a superstar, even the ordinary moments feel special. So goes “Just Like Magic,” an ode to manifesting positivity — “I get everything I want because I attract it” — that briefly alludes to some real-life tension in the second verses: “Losing friends left and right, but I just send ’em love and light.” As a sequel to “Successful” that more openly celebrates wealth, “Magic” could easily feel gauche — but the song’s sparkling synths and vocal harmonies immerse you completely in Ariana’s headspace.

A highlight from the moody first half of The Pinkprint, “Get on Your Knees” casts Minaj as a goddess ready to be worshipped by men. Katy Perry wrote the song’s hook, but Ariana sounds every bit as imposing: “I don’t need a pretty poet/ Ooh, gettin’ all emotional/ You gotta beg for it” — climaxing in a jaw-dropping four-part harmony.

“Why, oh why does God keep bringing me back to you?” pleads Ariana, unable to stay away from a toxic, yet irresistible relationship. Should she fight it, or give in? “Everytime” has no answers — she just goes “back to you, back to you, back to you everytime.” A behind-the-scenes Instagram video gave us a glimpse of Ariana’s stunning ad-libs in the studio, but the rest of the Max Martin and Ilya-produced track feels, perhaps, a little too familiar. “Everytime” could’ve fit nicely on Dangerous Woman, but lacks the sizzle of Sweetener’s very best.

Few could have guessed that Demi and Ariana’s first collaboration would be a slice of gothic synthpop drama — almost Jim Steinman-esque, or like Evanescence without guitars. Written by Ariana in response to Demi’s 2018 overdose and recovery, the song escalates as their vocals intertwine — but there’s also a smoothness to both the vocals and instrumentation, which never lets it spill over with emotion. “Met Him Last Night” is ultimately about living with temptation and addiction in the moment: There’s tension, but no release.