Sweetener
I have no idea what pop means anymore. It originally meant popular music, and I guess that what it still means, as the albums in this category tend to be big sellers. They are also usually without any edge at all, tending toward pablum.
This is Grande's fourth album, and she's gone from child actress to one of the biggest stars in the world. I am definitely not her demographic, though I was startled to see that ancient Robert Christgau liked it. I must have been listening to something else, because while I didn't hate it, I thought it was boring.
After listening to the first few tracks, I kind of liked it. "The Light Is Coming" is particularly strong, with the repeated phrase, "The light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole," juxtaposed with a man yelling at Senator Arlen Specter about health care. Despite Nikki Minaj being on this record (ugh) it's very catchy. I also liked the title track, which is a throwback to bubblegum pop hits and has the line, "I like the way you lick the bowl," a nice double entendre.
But as the album went on I began to get uninterested, as the songs pretty much sounded the same. A baby boomer like me, who likes guitar-oriented rock, isn't going to be into trap, or tropical house (neither of which I had ever heard of before reading about this album). The instrumentation is mechanical, without any personality, and as for Grande's voice, well, it is very, very good, but it isn't particularly distinctive. I think you could find a handful of women who sing just as well in any typical square mile of America. Give me someone like Janis Joplin.
I was amused that there is song on here called "Pete Davidson," which is about her former fiance, whom she later broke up with, embarrassing him before the nation.
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