30 October 2020
In what I’ve been calling the 2019-20 mini-renaissance in chart pop, we’ve already seen Dua Lipa discover a winning sound and Lady Gaga rediscover her ‘Just Dance’ form. Now here’s Ariana Grande with her best hit yet.
As ‘Don’t Start Now’ did with Dua, ‘Positions’ succeeds by working out how best to make use of Ari. Previous hits like ‘Thank U, Next’ paired her feathery voice with feathery music, leaving the whole thing airy and insubstantial. Here, though, the pizzicato strings and trap beats shore her up with a firm, substantive scaffolding. It also helps that ‘Positions’ has a strong topline melody right through the verse, pre-chorus and chorus rather than just random Ariana flutters. Her other hit around this time, ’34+35′, benefits from the same transformation of her signature soufflé into the satisfying crack of a crème brûlée. The turn-of-the-’20s chart-pop revival continues: sweet.
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