Three months after the August 2018 release of
Sweetener
-- her fourth album, delivered in the wake of the 2017 tragedy at Manchester Arena --
Ariana Grande
released "Thank U, Next," a clever pop song celebrating how each ex turned her into a better person. The refrain of "one taught me love, one taught me patience, and one taught me pain" quickly turned "Thank U, Next" into something more than a hit: it was a meme, eating up all the pop-cultural oxygen at the end of 2018, confirming
's position as the pre-eminent pop star of the moment. Like all defining pop stars,
Grande
's status derived in equal parts from her music and public persona, the latter shaped through the prism of tragedy -- not just the Manchester bombing, but the premature death of her ex
Mac Miller
-- and that collective consciousness lends weight to
Thank U, Next
, her swiftly delivered sequel to
, just as it did its predecessor. The difference with
is this time
is swaggering with the confidence that comes with unquestioned stardom. This freedom can be heard in "Thank U, Next," which flips heartbreak into empowerment, and is effectively the keynote for its parent album.
does delve into explicit darkness more than she did on
--
Miller
's death haunts the album, specifically surfacing on "Ghosting" -- but she never loses sight that this is a pop album, designed to provide a soundtrack for good times as well as the bad. To this end,
benefits from its quick execution. Conceptually, the album feels slighter than
, which was designed to be a grand statement, but the loose ends and crass commercial cul-de-sacs scattered throughout
seem human -- perhaps she's appropriating several cultures on "7 Rings," yet its celebration of healing heartbreak through consumerism suits a singer who also urges a crush to break up with a girlfriend just because she's bored. Such sentiments are the product of a singer who not only knows what she wants but knows that she's wanted, and that attitude unites and propels
through its ballads and R&B jams, turning it into an album that embodies every aspect of
, the grand pop star. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine