Grande doesn’t break any rules, but in her world no one does.
A cynic might dismiss Ariana Grande’s second album as a waste of time. And though there are some great moments on it – the Thom Yorke-esque piano on Best Mistake and Iggy Azalea’s brash cameo on Problem – perhaps the cynic is in the right.
We don’t need another collection of trashy R&B jams replete with mildly misogynistic themes (check out Hands On Me) and nonsensical lyrics (second single Break Free contains the line, “I’ve become who I really are”). But the album is fun and carefree and to over-think its flaws would be missing the point. Grande doesn’t break any rules, but in her world no one does.