thank u, next by Ariana Grande
Thank U, Next (stylized in all lowercase) is the fifth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released on February 8, 2019, by Republic Records. Following the release of her previous studio album Sweetener (2018), Grande found herself in the midst of personal matters, including the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and breaking up with fiancé Pete Davidson. Grande recorded the album in October 2018 in the matter of two weeks, enlisting writers and producers such as Tommy Brown, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh and Andrew "Pop" Wansel. The title track was released as the album's lead single on November 3, 2018 and became a commercial success, peaking atop of the charts of 12 countries and becoming Grande's first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100. The track also broke a string of records, including the record for the most plays in a single day by a female artist on Spotify. Its second single, "7 Rings", was released on January 18, 2019 and also performed well internationally, peaking at number one in 15 countries and making Grande the third female artist to have two or more songs debuting atop of the Billboard Hot 100. "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" was released as the third single on the day of the album's release. In support of both Sweetener and Thank U, Next, Grande will embark on the Sweetener World Tour, beginning in March 2019. Background In September 2018, Grande's ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, died from a drug overdose. The following month, Grande announced that she would take a break from music. That same month, however, Grande revealed that she had been in the studio working on new music, and she announced the Sweetener World Tour (2019). She stated that the tour would support both her fourth studio album, Sweetener (2018), and her upcoming fifth studio album. Later in October 2018, Grande broke off her engagement with comedian Pete Davidson. Without prior announcement, Grande released the title track of the album as the lead single on November 3, 2018. Promotion Singles "Thank U, Next" was released as the lead single from the album on November 3, 2018. She performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 7. The second single, "7 Rings", was released on January 18, 2019. "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" was released as the third single on February 8, 2019. Promotional singles A promotional single, "Imagine", was released on December 14, 2018. Grande performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on December 18, 2018.
What do you do when things fall apart? If you’re Ariana Grande, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and head for the studio. Her hopeful fourth album, <i>Sweetener</i>—written after the deadly attack at her concert in Manchester—encouraged fans to stay strong and open to love (at the time, the singer was newly engaged to Pete Davidson). Shortly after the album’s release in August 2018, things fell apart again: Grande’s ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, died from an overdose in September and her relationship with Davidson ended a few weeks later.<br /> Again, Grande took solace from the intense, and intensely public, heartache in songwriting, but this time things were different. <i>thank u, next</i>, mostly recorded over those tumultuous months, sees her turning inward in an effort to cope, grieve, heal and let go. “Though I wish he were here instead/Don’t want that living in your head,” she confesses on “ghostin”, a gutting synth-and-strings ballad that hovers in your throat. “He just comes to visit me/When I’m dreaming every now and then.” Like many of the songs here, it was produced by Max Martin, who has a supernatural way of making pain and suffering sound like beams of light.<br /> The album doesn't arrive a minute too soon. As Grande wrestles with what she wants—distance (“NASA”) and affection (“needy”), anonymity (“fake smile"), star power (“7 rings”) and sex without strings attached (“bloodline”, “make up”)—we learn more and more about the woman she’s becoming: complex, independent, tenacious. Surely embracing all of that is its own form of self-empowerment.<br /> But Grande also isn't in a rush to grow up. A week before the album’s release, she swapped out a particularly sentimental song called “Remember” with the provocative, *NSYNC-sampling “break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored”. As expected, it sent her fans into a frenzy. “I know it ain’t right/But I don’t care,” she sings. Maybe the ride is just starting.
