It makes sense that Ariana Grande would go full raunch queen on her third album Dangerous Woman. Though she debuted as a Nickelodeon star, Grande’s never been interested in kid-friendly shit, and she was quick to disown her bubblegum-as-fuck debut single “Put Your Hearts Up.” Alas, the Nick baggage has stuck with her longer than it should have, and she’s often portrayed in the media as an innocent baby-like creature rather than a 22-year-old with a healthy artistic vision. She needs this album, if only to get the assholes off her back.
What she doesn’t need to do is switch up her sound again. While her prior albums largely honed in on one sound — Yours Truly retro bubblegum, My Everything EDM-pop — Dangerous Woman lacks such an identity. The biggest change is the introduction of a few 6/8 soul ballads, but house, trap, reggae and R&B are never far away. Dangerous Woman thus feels more like a statement of intent for her image than for her sound, and it’s accordingly more coherent lyrically than sonically: the main theme is sex, with a bit of inspirational pep-talk thrown in for good measure.
And, as luck would have it, Grande’s great at sex songs. “A movie’s playing, but no one’s watching tonight,” she sings on “Moonlight,” succinctly summing up the physics of “Netflix and chill.” “Into You” is a relentless come-on, but it feels more desperate than sultry, as if the whisky’s got her feeling pretty and she only has one chance. The album’s best song, the hilarious “Side to Side,” is an ode to the rough sex that’s got her walking as the title suggests. She doesn’t sing with pride here, nor with “sexy” affectation: she sings with a hint of a laugh, fondly recalling the events of the night before as she comes to terms with the awkward after-effects.
It’s easy to dismiss the more inspirational songs here as by-the-numbers seeing as pop’s been telling us to keep our heads held high for over half a decade now. And they’re not the best: “I Don’t Care” is a pretty basic fuck-the-haters coda, while “Dangerous Woman” roars with a powerful chorus but skimps on the verses. These tunes gain a bit more context when you consider all the absurd and pointless scrutiny to which Grande’s been subjected throughout her career. But context doesn’t define a song, and these are the album’s weaker moments.
The drastic changes in production mean Dangerous Woman isn’t as good a back-to-front listen as it could have been. It seems to settle into a slow soul groove with the first two tracks, “Moonlight” and the bombastic “Dangerous Woman,” before jumping that train in favor of house grooves for the next two. But there are really no clunkers — except “Everyday,” another sex song but one so bland Grande actually gets upstaged by Future, a rapper capable of making just about anything sound boring. This is a great pop album in the rough — a rewarding listen, but hopefully a practice run for a record that’s as fleshed-out sonically as Dangerous Woman is thematically.
Watch the video for Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman” below: