Albums to watch

thank u, next

Ariana Grande

thank u, next

Fifth album, and second in six months, from the American pop star working with writers and producers such as Tommy Brown, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh and Andrew "Pop" Wansel

ADM rating[?]

8.1

Label
Republic
UK Release date
08/02/2019
US Release date
08/02/2019
  1. 9.1 |   Consequence Of Sound

    A personal statement from a generational talent who is still only 25 years old. And maybe that’s the most exciting part: Ariana Grande is just now entering her prime
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  2. 9.1 |   A.V. Club

    The only question now is how much bigger her career is going to get
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  3. 9.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    See review
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  4. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    One of the most sonically interesting records of its type ever recorded, littered with warped synths, clicks, pops and esoteric whistles
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  5. 9.0 |   God Is In The TV

    The entire album plays like one epic pop-playlist, perfect for blasting in your car, getting ready for a night out (or night in) with girlfriends or while perhaps mulling the many aspects – both good and bad – of your life
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  6. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    It’s contradictory, assured yet tender. It’s delicate but strong. It’s sweet pop music wrapped in an unbreakable metal shell. It’s beautiful but vulgar. It is, frankly, much more than we could have ever hoped for from her
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  7. 9.0 |   All Music

    A singer who not only knows what she wants but knows that she's wanted, and that attitude unites and propels Thank U, Next through its ballads and R&B jams, turning it into an album that embodies every aspect of Ariana Grande, the grand pop star
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  8. 8.3 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    What Grande has honed on thank u, next is the way she cunningly interweaves modern r&b patois and beats that brush up against the boundaries of top 40
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  9. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    There’s a creative cohesion to Grande’s heart-on-sleeve performance
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  10. 8.0 |   NME

    It’s only been six months since Grande delivered her career high in ‘Sweetener’, but already her new era is teaching the world plenty of lessons
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  11. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    A glorious pop rush
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  12. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    A very accomplished album which showcases Grande’s inner strength and emotional maturity in the face of the undeniably harrowing trauma she has suffered in the past couple of years
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  13. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    A break-up album of wit and wonder
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  14. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    It's been hard not to root for Grande over the past couple years, so it's especially rewarding to hear her coming out the other side of grief and trauma with her strongest body of work to date
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  15. 8.0 |   NOW

    Writing with vulnerability and introspection, Grande mines her public heartache and shows she has nothing to hide
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  16. 8.0 |   The Independent

    It lacks a centrepiece to match the arresting depth and space of Sweetener’s ‘God Is A Woman’, but Grande handles its shifting moods and cast of producers with engaging class and momentum
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  17. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    Compare this to Taylor Swift’s eye-of-the-storm album Reputation, which manoeuvred into place like a piece of heavy artillery. Grande’s modus operandi feels so much better attuned to the way fans connect to musicians today
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  18. 8.0 |   Earbuddy

    The album’s high point might actually be “Ghostin”, which sounds like what would happen if Julia Holter went mainstream
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  19. 7.9 |   Pitchfork

    Released five months after the catharsis of Sweetener, these songs of affirmation feel lighter, freer, and more fun, carried effortlessly by Grande’s undeniable voice
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  20. 7.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    One gets the sense that Grande has a real appreciation for the hip-hop, pop, and R&B that are the lifeblood of her music, an appreciation meaningful enough for the potent energy of those genres to help her both grieve and endure
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  21. 7.0 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    The songs that hew closer to pop than hip-hop are the strongest because they show the most confidence, both vocally and musically
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  22. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Thank U, Next is easily Grande’s most sonically consistent effort to date, even if that means some of the album’s sleek R&B tracks tend to blur together
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  23. 6.0 |   The Observer

    In the wake of huge traumas, Ariana Grande has pumped out the hits, challenged the pop machine – and now releases an album she rustled up in two weeks
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