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THANK U, SEX!
WITH a terrorist attack at her Manchester concert, the death of her ex-boyfriend and the breakdown of her engagement, Ariana Grande has had a tragic few years.
But on her new album, set to be the biggest of the year when it comes out on Friday, the 27-year-old superstar reveals she has finally found love — and bares all about their sex life.
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Today The Sun takes a peek at her first record since 2019’s Thank U, Next — and it marks her shock transformation from squeaky clean Nickelodeon actress to a confident, sexually liberated woman.
Suggestively titled Positions, Ariana’s sixth album sees her go into graphic detail about all-night romps with her unlikely new lover Dalton Gomez, a Californian estate agent.
Ariana and Dalton, 27, began dating at the start of the year after being introduced by mutual friends.
And the singer does not hold back on her feelings for him in lyrics that will shock many parents of her young fans.
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In the explicit chorus to track 34+35, she begs: “Can you stay up all night? F*** me till the daylight?”
Another X-rated section has the lyrics: “Watching movies but we ain’t seen a thing tonight.
“I don’t want to keep you up, but show me can you keep it up? Cos then I’ll have to keep you up.”
She later says in another verse: “Got the neighbours yelling ‘Earthquake!’. 1.5 when I make the bed shake.”
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And despite being with Dalton for less than a year, she suggests she wants to have his children, singing: “You might think I’m crazy, the way I’ve been craving. If I put it quite plainly, just give me them babies.”
The theme of their constant romps continues throughout.
On song Nasty, she sings: “Promise I’ma give it to you like you’ve never had it, I do it so good. It’s gon’ be hard to break the habit.”
It’s a major U-turn for Ariana, who in January last year doubted she would ever find love again.
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At the time, she reposted an article headlined, “Who is Ariana dating now?” and tweeted: “Spoiler for the rest of this year/probably my life: It’s no one.”
She is set to score her seventh UK No1 single this Friday with the album’s title track and has become the most-streamed female artist on Spotify and Apple Music.
But her success is set against a dark few years. She was devastated in May 2017 when a terrorist detonated an explosive device as crowds filtered out of her concert at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people.
A year later she appeared to be getting her life back on track when she started dating US comedian Pete Davidson.
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But in September 2018 tragedy struck again when singer Mac Miller, who she had dated for two years up until May of that year, died of an accidental overdose aged 26.
The following month, her romance with Pete, 26, who she had got engaged to after a matter of weeks, also ended.
It inspired her heartbreak album Thank U, Next in which she name-checked her ex-boyfriends, including Pete, Mac and rapper Big Sean.
On her new album she makes a point of not naming names. But after a troubling few years, she makes it clear there is more than just physical chemistry with her new love.
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On track Obvious, she tells how she thought she was going to be alone forever before meeting her now-boyfriend.
She sings: “I love the thought of you never leaving, days repeating, getting steps up on a treadmill while you’re sleeping.
“Never thought I would believe in love again.”
Ariana also says she “knew” Dalton was, “the real thing when you walked through the door”.
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And she sings: “I love the thought of us in the evening, crave the feeling, the way you feel, something about it filling, I’m praying we don’t f* this up.”
It is a similar message to song Safety Net, in which she concedes things have moved quickly between them.
As if speaking to him, she sings: “You know you’re really something, how’d we get here so damn fast?
“Only you could tell me that, baby cos you know I’m coming back.
‘YOU'RE MAKING ME FORGET MY PAST’
“You’re making me forget my past, never thought I’d feel like that again. I became at peace with my path, now you’ve got me off track.”
Ariana began her glittering showbiz career aged 15 in 2008 Broadway musical 13. Two years later she shot to fame as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series Victorious.
In 2011 she signed her first record deal, aged 18. Her debut album, Yours Truly, was released two years later and she has since sold millions of records worldwide.
But a decade on from her small- screen breakthrough, she has matured into a new woman — one who may even be ready to get married.
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In yet more loved-up lyrics, she sings, “I’ll be your wife”, on song West Side. And in track Love Language, she says her man helps to calm her down.
She sings: “If you’re gonna keep speaking my love language, you can talk your s**t all night. You’re the medication when I’m feeling anxious, that’s the kind of s**t I like. Teach me how to love you.”
But she makes her worries about trusting someone clear, too.
On Just Like Magic she suggests she asked for her man’s phone password to “convince” her there was not anything dodgy going on.
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While on her Doja Cat collaboration Motive, she begs to know what his motive is in dating her.
After several high-profile heartbreaks, Ariana also lays her own insecurities bare.
She had sparked concern on her tour last year after breaking down in tears on stage, and last summer she admitted she had been struggling with a series of panic attacks.
On Instagram, she said: “My anxiety and depression have been at an all-time high lately.
‘I WANT TO LOVE ME THE WAY YOU LOVE ME’
“I have been giving you all I’ve got and trying to push through as hard as I can to mask it.”
Her battles with mental health are reflected on the album’s closing track POV, an abbreviation for point of view.
She sings: “I want to love me the way that you love me, for all of my pretty and all of my ugly too.
“I’d love to see me from your point of view.
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“I want to trust me the way that you trust me, cos nobody ever loved me like you do.”
Later she adds: “You love my lips because they say the things we’ve always been afraid of. I can feel it starting to subside, learning to believe in what is mine.”
The album also sees her team up with Canadian singer The Weeknd on a poignant song called Off The Table, which is believed to be about her late ex Mac.
On the track she suggests she is still struggling to get over him.
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She sings: “Will I ever love the same way again? Will I ever love somebody like the way I did you?
“Never thought you’d be so damn hard to replace, I swear I don’t mean to be this way, if I can’t have you is love completely off the table? Do I sit this one out and wait for the next life?
“Am I too cold? Am I not nice?
“Might not be quite yet healed already.
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“Should I be going too steady? But I just wanna know is love completely off the table?”
Appearing to sing from her boyfriend’s perspective, The Weeknd replies: “I’ll wait for you. Even though it always feels like I’ll be number two to someone you can’t hold any more.
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“If you’ll let me in I’m ready to give you what I couldn’t before.”
And now it seems Ariana is ready to let someone in.
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Record Positions Ariana as sultry success
IN a year where no one can hit the dancefloor, Ariana has left her pop roots behind in favour of sultry R&B.
Positions is deliciously naughty with its lyrics but also showcases her vocal power across 14 songs, each one more sensual than the last.
Love Language is dripping in sex appeal while 34+35 is just as seductive as it is tongue-in-cheek.
On the track My Hair – a song which is as sleek and slinky as the famous ponytail she is singing about – she proves her talent as a Blues singer.
And the saucy Nasty kicks off with a whistle register to rival even the ultimate diva, Mariah Carey.
The record does have slightly more upbeat moments in Just Like Magic, Motive, and the title track, released last Friday.
The latter is the closest thing to a pop-leaning single, but it is still a world away from her high-octane Lady Gaga collaboration Rain On Me, which went to No1 in June.
But she more than proves her versatility – effortlessly belting out the emotional lyrics to Off The Table, which she duets on with The Weeknd, while the soul-baring closing track POV will go down as one of her more powerful ballads.
If she wasn’t already considered one of the greatest superstars of her generation, she will be now.
★★★★☆
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