Ariana Grande’s spectacular eighth studio album petal has blossomed to life, and it’s truly a beauty to behold. Ambient, introspective and sometimes even experimental, this record is a natural progression for one of the greatest pop stars of our generation, as she handles what it means to be such a star in an era of total celebrity saturation.
For the first time in her catalogue, all the lyrics on petal are penned by Ariana herself. Production legends like Max Martin and ILYA specifically aid with production, mixing and melodies, opting for a light R&B-pop soundscape that hides darker elements beneath its shimmering facade. As a result, petal is strikingly honest and gets to the heart of Grande’s “big feelings” about her position in the entertainment world. The record’s title personifies her as a “petal in the pavement”, growing despite the adversity around her.
That adversity typically refers to Grande’s turbulent relationship with fame. In hindsight, her collaboration with Charli XCX on 2024’s ‘Sympathy is a knife’ remix functions as the perfect segue between Grande’s previous musical era eternal sunshine and the moodier tone of petal. At the time of its release, Grande’s verse on ‘Sympathy is a knife’ offered us the most detailed insight yet into her struggle with being at the “top” of the music industry, and knowing “logically the next step is they want to see you fall”. The popular meme summarising the song as saying fame “issa knife” now serves as a pivotal moment in Grande’s career, where she first expressed the frustration with the entertainment industry that defines petal.
This was clear from the lead single ‘hate that i made you love me’, which works as both an ode to a complicated romance, and a truthful expression of how complicated it can be to connect with fans. Here, Grande acknowledges that pursuing a career in music and acting puts her at blame for also instigating fame’s by-product of parasocial relationships. Nonetheless, she’s dismayed at how the media “studied my crown and borrowed my body”, and remorsefully claims her goal in releasing art was never to create an obsessive following. Her trademark layered harmonies build the song up to a stunning crescendo, over glittering synths that give the soundscape an eerily perfect veneer, contrasted against the narrative about the intense scrutiny of celebrity life.
Despite her obvious love for her fans, who have supported her for over a decade, Ariana reaches the end of her tether with their entitlement across petal. Whilst ‘freak’ as a title might suggest something romantic, it’s really an unsettling, intentionally dissonant ballad calling out fans who take things too far. It blends naturally into the interlude ‘warning signs’, where we explore the flip side of the coin — someone as famous as Ariana Grande can demand her followers listen to her needs and opinions all she wants, but at such a level of international recognition, it becomes impossible for her to truly maintain total control over her image. This number builds to a shuddering, stacked cry of “I wish somebody could hear me”, revealing far more emotional turmoil and darkness beneath Grande’s self-assured persona.
Sonically, some of the greatest moments on petal sit within that haunting cinematic realm. The slinky title track builds a spooky ambience to position Grande as her own savior. “I don’t need someone to save me/’Cause this music and I will never die”, she insists. It’s hard not to picture her in the latex get-up of her Dangerous Woman era, or the Catwoman-inspired outfit from ‘the boy is mine’, thanks to such a sultry tone and instrumental. ‘petal’ swings smoothly between time signatures as she lyrically takes back her power and reminds the listener she’s in charge of her own empire.
That powerful, confident identity shines through again on the song’s sexier cuts. ‘Like i do’ takes the audience by storm with its surprisingly raunchy chorus. Tailored to fans of Ariana’s more R&B inspired moments, its 2000s beat rises to a hook that invokes both intense attraction and terror. Similarly, ‘big feelings’ works clever innuendos in amongst direct and explicit lines. This song is irresistibly sensual, with a timeless bassline and catchy chorus perfectly suited to backdrop a late night romance.
Some tracks are more experimental. ‘Oh Well’ takes inspiration from drum and bass and garage with its skittering club rhythms, but juxtaposes this heavier sound against Grande’s sweet, light falsetto. The song’s finale is a gorgeous breakdown that gives the instrumental space to breathe. Later, ‘bad thing (bunny hop)’ dives into a more upbeat, rockier style, reminiscent of this decade’s 80s nostalgia pioneered by The Weeknd. Pumping drums give its chorus a sweeping energy that pulls the listener to the dancefloor. Its melodies are undeniable, and its story of rekindling a past relationship offers vulnerable insight into Grande’s recently highly publicised love life.
But petal is ultimately best exemplified by its bookend tracks, ‘kiss me’ and ‘nowhere, nobody’. The opener is a sparkling wall of sound, which talks about Grande’s life with a desperation to find something more before the end, whilst the closer accepts that after all her success, the only way to keep feeling anything is to take in the current moment for what it is. Her love for vocoders, inspired by her own favourite artist Imogen Heap, comes into play over a satisfying breakbeat, once again highlighting Grande’s incredible knack for finding a fun, singable way to express some of life’s most painful experiences.
petal is the artistic statement of a woman who’s accomplished what few of us can even imagine. It uses Grande’s classic R&B pop style to study who really pulls the strings behind the publicly presenting woman we see. Is Ariana a product or a person, and how much of her life does she owe her fanbase? There’s plenty to ponder after giving this profound album a listen, but if one thing’s for certain, Ariana Grande knows the role she’s meant to play. With a wink and a nudge, petal reminds us that she “Keep my heels tall, my ego small/But I’m still Grande”.
