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grande verse

grande verse / eras / positions

2020 · republic records · released 2020-10-30

positionsariana grande’s 2020 album

the quiet one — r&b, strings, and no interest in being loud

  • chamber r&b
  • Tommy Brown
  • London on da Track
  • Murda Beatz
album artwork for positions
no creative-commons photograph of her exists from this era, so the record itself stands in. sleeve served by apple music, never rehosted here — see credits.

the story

released into the back half of 2020 with almost no rollout, this is the least attention-seeking record in her catalogue and it is better than its reputation. the arrangements are built on real string writing rather than sampled pads, and the drums sit further back than on anything since the debut.

the vocal approach is the story: almost entirely head voice and breath, very little belting, harmonies doubled three and four deep. it asks to be listened to on headphones, which is an odd request for a pop album and the reason it was initially underrated.

it is also the most sexually frank record she has made, delivered in the most understated voice she has used. that contrast is the whole design.

worth knowingthe string arrangements are performed, not programmed — unusual for a mainstream pop record of that year and the main reason it still sounds warm.

why it looks like this

warm parchment, sage green, a hint of gold leaf. the era's visual language was regal and slightly ornate — softer than dangerous woman, more formal than sweetener — and the palette sits in that gap.

the songs

the whole record, in order — all 14 tracks, with a preview on each. 10 of them have a full write-up here so far; the rest are listed with everything we can state as fact and nothing we cannot.

  1. shut upno write-up yet2:38
  2. 34+35#22:54
  3. motive2:48
  4. just like magic2:30
  5. off the table4:00
  6. six thirty3:04
  7. safety net feat. Ty Dolla $ign3:28
  8. my hairwhistle2:38
  9. nastyno write-up yet3:21
  10. west sideno write-up yet2:12
  11. love language3:00
  12. positions#12:52
  13. obviousno write-up yet2:27
  14. pov3:22

running order and previews from apple. released 2020-10-30.

around the same time

17 more recordings released alongside this era rather than on it — singles, features on other people’s records, deluxe cuts, soundtracks and christmas songs. every one with a preview and a way to go and hear it properly.

further reading

longer pieces on this, written to be checkable — every claim sourced and stamped with the date it was last verified.

everything in read →