Ariana Grande ‘Sweetener’

Athena Benjamin, Writer

Over a year after the Manchester bombing during her Dangerous Woman tour, Ariana Grande puts out Sweetener.

On May 22, 2017, Ariana Grande performed in Manche while touring for her album, “Dangerous Woman”. During her last song of the night, a suicide-bomber set off a homemade bomb and killed 22 people, injuring 500.

A week after the tragedy, Grande put on a benefit concert, One Love Manchester, with various other artists showing their support, to mark their resistance to the terror and raise money for the victims and their families.

Grande and many of her fans believed she would never perform again.

A year and a half later, she comes out with “Sweetener” which commemorates the disaster. The album begins with a 38-second, somber acapella cover of the Four Seasons’ song, “An Angel Cried.” The next song, “blazed,” instantly brings the optimism that will carry on for the rest of the album with a fast and light melody.

“Sweetener” is Grande’s third time hitting no. 1 album on the Billboard 200 Chart.

For those interested in listening to this album without the political innuendos, the music itself is engaging and entertaining enough to listen to for simple enjoyment.

The entire album is exceptional, but there are three songs that rise above the others .

“God is a woman” is a beautifully written song that empowers women with lyrics like “I can be anything you tell me not to be” and “When you try to come for me, I keep on flourishing.” Grande inspires her listeners to gain more confidence in themselves and their abilities.

Grande holds nothing back in “successful,” one of the less popular songs on the album.

Lyrics like, “It feels so good to be so young and have this fun and be successful,” inspire pride and determination.

The album is wrapped up with “get well soon.” The song focuses on self-love with lines like “Babe, you gotta take care of your body” and “If you need someone to pull you out of the bubble, I’ll be right there just to hug you.”

In an ABC News interview, Grande says that she wanted to “subliminally honor the Manchester victims,” and she “wanted to make the length of the song five minutes and 22 seconds just as a little way to celebrate and honor them and their lives.”

To do so, she added 40 seconds at the end of this song to memorialize the 522 casualties from the bombing in Manchester.