ARIANA GRANDE - petal

Voices in my head been trying to swallow me
But I don’t bite (I don’t bite)
Yeah, I’m alright, I’ve
Been holding hands with so much complexity (Ooh)
Since I was five, mm
But we’ve done alright

In the video for “petal”, the title track of the eighth album by Ariana Grande, we see the image of an artist forced to undergo a series of auditions in which she is judged in a way that's ambiguous to say the least: on one hand rejected for not being good enough for the role, and on the other accused of not having gone under the knife enough. It's a way of being welcomed into the Hollywood star-system that is by now familiar to everyone, yet here it's resolved with brazenly pulp violence, with the producers sliced up by a chainsaw as if Ariana were a female version of Tony Montana, while the other candidates look on approvingly, amused by the outcome.

These are images as powerful as they are emblematic in defining the enormous media pressure that the American popstar has been forced to reckon with, relentlessly, pretty much every single day of her life. They also precede the announcement that she will withdraw from public events starting in September, once the "Eternal Sunshine Tour" wraps up — a decision that apparently has been brewing for some time and could no longer be put off, given the "constant and relentless judgment from public opinion," especially on social media, where in recent years Ariana Grande's physical appearance has been brutally placed at the center of speculation, gratuitous criticism and equally unwelcome comments about her weight loss.

Having duly contextualized the backdrop against which “petal” reaches our ears, let's finally get to the music itself — the twelve songs on an album with which the former Disney Channel star, now thirty-three, aims to confront and ultimately exorcise, in her own way, the harshest side of fame. It's a condition made even worse by the trauma of the terrorist attack on 22 May 2017 at the Manchester Arena, when 22 people lost their lives and over 500 were injured at the end of one of her concerts. That trauma has lingered in the years since, alongside health conditions that were at times visibly worrying, which the musician explained on TikTok in 2023 with these words: "The body you're comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of me. I was on antidepressants, drinking, eating poorly. I was in the worst place of my life. I looked fine, but I was the least healthy."

If the narrative here is that of a confessional trying to sweep away one's inner demons, the music doesn't always live up to that emotional need. The opening "kiss me" is a half-triumphant electropop gallop in which Grande invites us to flee from all the rot through one last figurative kiss — the plan, in short, is clear from the start: sweeten a dramatic message with syrupy solutions. The lunar pulse of "hate that i made you love me" raises the bar slightly, helped along by an almost gripping refrain, just as the aforementioned title track adds a dash of urban-soul spice to the mix, before the following "stay" settles the momentum back onto softer ground, without leaving any real mark. Much better is the almost broken rhythm (many would call it broken beat, and fair enough) of "oh well", even if it's nowhere near the levels reached on past records that were, all things considered, successful, like the recent "eternal sunshine".

Between a still-whispered nu-soul ballad ("big feelings") and sinuous electro arrangements ("freak"), Ariana Grande seems to be politely telling us she wants to lead us by the hand toward ideal, and therefore impossible, horizons. The intent is obviously noble, but the whole thing only holds up in fits and starts, and aside from a few pop flourishes, everything floats on a cloud ready to dissolve on second listen — except for the record's more energetic moments, like the (!) synthwave that vaguely surfaces in "bad thing (bunny hop)".
All that's left, then, is to hope for a more accomplished and convincing return, imagining that the smile given back to us on the cover shot is the first sign of a bright new future for the singer, actress and producer from Boca Raton.

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09/08/2026