Hi, I'm Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland, where we talk about Ariana Grande too much. Once again I'd like to apologize for posting this about three weeks late (I explained why in that last post), and I'd like to begin with a new apology. I'm sorry if you're sick of me talking about Ariana Grande, but I'm not going to stop anytime soon. Today, we're going to look at her new comeback single "No Tears Left To Cry" since because I've been highly anticipating it for a while now and I had immensely high expectations. But first, some background information.
I've been a huge fan of Ariana since she got her start on Nickelodeon's Victorious. On that show, she played Cat, who was my favorite character (even though I've begun to realize that Cat is pretty annoying as I've gotten older), so I mostly started liking her for that. After Victorious ended, she followed in the footsteps of her contemporaries like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez and began releasing music. I started really becoming a fan of hers due to her music. She has easily one of the best voices in music today, so much so that she's gotten compared to some of the all-time greats like Mariah Carey. Whether you think those comparisons are accurate is another story, but I think the fact that she's even suggested to be in the same league as legends like that really says a lot about how talented she is. But not only does she have the top-notch pipes, she has the tunes to back her up. For comparison, let's look at one of Ariana's closest competitors (although I'm pretty sure they're actually really good friends), Demi Lovato. When I talked about Demi in my Top 10 Favorite Celebrities post, you'll notice that I didn't really talk about her music that much and mostly talked about her personality and vocal talent. That's because, with the exception of a few songs like "Cool For The Summer" and "Heart Attack", I don't actually think her music is anything special. She's obviously got an amazing voice, but she doesn't have the right material to put it to use. That's what distinguishes Ariana from her equally vocally talented peers for me. Good singing can only get you so far, you need to have amazing songs as well. And Ariana is one of the most consistently great pop artists of this generation. I can count on one hand the number of songs I don't like from her, and when she's at her best, she is responsible for some of my all-time favorite songs. "Into You" is quite possibly the most euphoric and perfect pop song I've ever heard, "Greedy" is a funky little throwback-inspired pop song that should've been a world-conquering smash hit single (emphasis on "single" because it wasn't one), and "Be My Baby" is an EDM-inspired midtempo track with big synths and even bigger vocals.
I bring up those three songs in particular, because I've stated in numerous places that I love all three of those songs an insane amount and I think it's these three songs that kind of ruined "No Tears Left To Cry" for me at first. I can't emphasize this enough: my expectations for "No Tears Left To Cry" were ungodly high to the point where it almost hurt the song. I was expecting the Pop Song of the Century, something even better than "Into You", which is no easy feat. Anything less than that would be viewed as a disappointment in my mind. And upon first listen, "No Tears Left To Cry" was not as good as I expected. However, I figured it would grow on me over time and it only took a few listens to do so.
For those who are living under a rock: On May 22, 2017, a bomb was set off after Ariana's Dangerous Woman Tour show at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. 23 innocent concert-goers lost their lives (with the youngest casualty being merely eight years old) and over 500 were injured in the terrorist attack. Ariana was stuck in the middle of a huge tragedy like this, and she felt a huge amount of guilt after the events. She did everything she could to try to make things better, paying for the funerals of those who died, visiting the injured in the hospital, and most remarkably, organizing the immensely successful One Love Manchester benefit concert in a very short amount of time. With the tragedy being such a big story and one that affects Ariana directly, it was pretty much expected that the next song she'd release would address the incident in some way. And similar to "Praying" by Kesha from last year, Ari's outlook on her tragedy is quite possibly the best and most mature one she could have.
A few days before the single came out, she held a listening party for fans in London. The Blast reported that people who were at the listening party were so moved by the song's lyrics that they cried hysterically. With lyrics like "I'm pickin' it up, pickin' it up, lovin', I'm livin', so we turnin' up" and "We're way too fly to partake in all this hate, we out here vibin', we vibin', we vibin'", I can say that they were really stretching with that. However, what "No Tears Left To Cry" as a whole represents for Ariana is something I have nothing but respect for. This is a song about a woman who has overcome some truly horrible events, but she's done being sad and overcome the pain. She is an empowered woman, one that came out of a tragedy very few people could imagine and is stronger than ever. The song in a word? Uplifting.
The underlying message of the song is very powerful, but I'm typically a person who cares more about vocals, production, and melodies than one who cares about messages and lyrics. How is the song in those aspects? Well, this song doesn't compare to Ariana's previous best songs, but it still is really good. Ariana teased a snippet of the song the Wednesday before it came out, and my mind was pretty much blown from that. From that, I expected the song to be a gospel-esque number akin to "Pendulum" by Katy Perry (one of the few good songs from that album). That snippet was of the intro, which starts out slow with Ariana providing soulful vocals. After that, it speeds up and transitions into an R&B inspired bop, for lack of a better term. She starts sing-rapping, and the rapid switch-up really caught me off-guard. I wasn't huge on the sing-rapping at first, but it grew on me because it's just so catchy! In fact, this entire song has been looping in my head ever since I first heard it. Ariana and her producers know how to write a catchy pop song, and the hooks on this one are undeniable.
With this song, Ariana worked with the legendary producer Max Martin, who has produced iconic singles like "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, and "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry. He's also responsible for some of Ariana's biggest hits like "Problem", "Side To Side", and "Into You". Because of the latter song especially, I was glad to see Ariana work with him again. The production on this song is excellent. Its sound is distinctive yet it doesn't sound out of place with other current pop songs. It has sort of a 90's-house meets R&B meets pop vibe, with hints of the gospel elements in the backing vocals. It matches the optimism and joy of the lyrics perfectly and fits the vibe they tried to go for perfectly.
Of course, the one last big element we have to talk about, since it's what Ariana's known for, is the vocals. I'm not sure if I'd say this is her absolute best vocal performance ever, and although it's grown on me, I still don't think the sing-rapping is the best choice for Ariana's tone. But still, it's Ariana Grande. She's incapable of having a truly terrible vocal performance. She sounds confident and jovial and she really shows the emotions needed for the song. The backing vocals and harmonies are great as always, and the parts where she gets to really belt at the end is glorious. Ariana's voice is a national treasure, and just listening to her voice can put a smile on my face no matter what she's singing.
Overall, I would give "No Tears Left To Cry" a 9/10. It's not one of my absolute favorite Ariana Grande songs, but it's the kind of song I need at this point in my life, and it's the single she needed to come back with. I know it will grow on me even more in the future, maybe even to the point where I like it as much as "Into You" or "Be My Baby". How does it compare to her other lead singles? Well, I would still say I prefer "The Way" from her debut Yours Truly, but I like "No Tears Left To Cry" more than both "Problem" from My Everything and "Dangerous Woman" from the album of the same name. If this is the direction Ariana's going in for AG4, then it will probably be her best album to date. I'm not going to review any of the other songs leading up to the release of the album, but I will totally be reviewing the album itself when it comes out. I'm sorry if this post was kind of over the place and overly passionate, but I couldn't contain my excitement. I have no idea what my next post will be, or when The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland #3 will come out, but I should be back next Wednesday. I'm Stellar in Neverland, and I'll see you then. Peace!
Stellar
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