Ariana Grande’s ‘Unfiltered Rage’ Blooms on Petal

It turns out Ariana Grande, the woman behind Eternal Sunshine, has a dark side. She makes that clear on her eighth album Petal, which uses minor chords and disarmingly blunt lyrics to capture the highs and lows of being a woman in the spotlight. It’s an interesting time for the pop star to release a new body of work—in the midst of an international tour, on the heels of two Wicked movies, ahead of her West End debut, and at the start of a new (rekindled) romance—but it’s also the perfect time. As someone who’s been in headlines nearly nonstop for the aforementioned reasons and then some, Grande is in prime position to reflect on her relationship with fame: being both an artist and a commodity, an idol and the butt of a joke, a victim and a victor. Petal captures all of that, with some of the R&B and hip-hop production reminiscent of Positions (the producer, ILYA, is one of her frequent collaborators), creating some stuck-in-your-head tunes, even if they’re not what you expect from her. As the singer herself said, her latest work is brimming with “unfiltered rage,” and “Hate That I Made You Love Me” was just a taste of it.

Here, two ELLE editors take a deep dive into Grande’s Petal.

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First Impressions

Erica Gonzales, deputy editor, digital content: I liked it. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was worried, but I appreciate what she was trying to say with it.

Samuel Maude, content strategy manager: I definitely think this is a darker album for Ariana. There’s no “Break Free” or massive song that you just go, “Oh my gosh, that’s going to be played at a gay bar in the country,” or anything like that. So on my first listen, I was kind of missing that big giant vocal production. But when I listened again this morning and was more attuned to the lyrics, I really liked it. I think it’s very well done.

EG: Even though it doesn’t have a bunch of big “Break Free” or “God Is a Woman”-esque big, belty songs, there are certain melodies in the Ariana R&B repertoire that I love, like “Safety Net,” where she just hits a pocket and you’re like, “Oh, that’s going to be stuck in my head forever.” I felt that way with “Stay” and “Big Feelings” and “Like I Do.”

SM: This feels like it’s in the celestial space production of Brighter Days Ahead with more of an R&B Positions feel. Also, I could feel the impact The Weeknd had on this album.

EG: I was not super familiar with ILYA, but apparently he worked on “Problem,” “God Is a Woman,” “Side to Side,” “No Tears Left to Cry,” “Breathe In,” and “We Can’t Be Friends.”

SM: Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.

The Public’s Reactions

SM: I’m so curious to see the fan and public reaction to this album because it’s going to be interesting.

EG: Speaking of the public reaction, that is very much the core of this whole project. “Hate That I Made You Love Me” wasn’t the best song on the album, but it was certainly the thesis statement. So by releasing it as a single, she was warning everybody or giving a preview, saying, “The album is going to be about this.” And it definitely was. “Petal,” which seems like it’s going to be the next single, definitely goes into that a lot more too.

“Hate That I Made You Love Me” makes more sense in the context of the album. To go from a super romantic opener, “Kiss Me,” to that, to “Petal” really sets up the whole thing.

And some of the lyrics I wrote down from “Petal” were “all of my favorite stories end in some kind of catastrophe,” “It’s such a fucked situation,” “Tell me who’s to blame, is it the people or myself?” “As long as she keeps getting it right, heartbreak won’t bite. This is paradise.” But she’s also saying she knows she’s not the victim. She says this is not a cry for help; “I’m practically drowning in my blessings,” but she’s still struggling.

SM: I felt like this is maybe her most introspective album yet.

She’s currently touring, so I’ve thought this entire time that the timing of this album didn’t fully make sense to me in the scheme of her career. So to me, this feels like an album she needed to write.

EG: That also kind of ties into the last song on the album, where she kind of says, after all of this, there’s still nobody else I’d rather be. No one else I’d rather do this with. She’s speaking to her fans and her listeners directly. I feel like her releasing this album might not change anything; people’s views or how they speak about her, how they treat her in public and in the press probably aren’t going to change, but this is something she just had to say. She had to get all that off her chest.

“Like I Do”

SM: Specifically with the phrase “extra, extra,” she’s saying, “I’m giving you fodder to talk about. I’m giving you my relationships, you’re going to talk about them no matter what. You’re going to talk about my body no matter what. You’re going to talk about me no matter what.” This is a very weird relationship that we as the public and Ariana Grande, the artist, have. You’re not going to see those maybe more special moments or those things that make her life what it is. You’re only seeing the things that she gives you.

I actually feel for her and I think of fame as oftentimes such a golden cage. Yes, you have then a bunch of money, but in a way, you’re trapped. Your every move is scrutinized.

EG: Yeah. It reminds me of the Olivia Rodrigo song “Making the Bed,” that feeling of, “I feel crazy, but it’s kind of my fault.” It’s a cage of my own making, to extend the metaphor.

“Oh Well”

EG: It also seems like she’s noting this problem and then going through different stages of grief or anger around it. “Oh Well,” for example, when she’s like, “Good luck on your way to hell”—that’s serious. She’s angry. It’s interesting that she’s saying this in her music because if she said it in an interview or if she said it to the paparazzi swarming her on the street, it would immediately make her look like a villain or “ungrateful.” But for her to say that in the context of her own song seems very intentional.

SM: Totally. And through the whole thing, I was sitting there thinking that, in many ways, the songs can be both about the public and about a lover.

In “Big Feelings,” she’s saying, “I made you feel these big feelings about me. I don’t necessarily reciprocate them 100 percent back, but you’re giving me stability and security.” I think she says, “I made a grown man cry” in that. It’s like when you have a relationship with someone where they have bigger feelings than you do, but they’re also giving you this love that you honestly deserve, do you stay there because it’s better for you?

EG: There was a line like that too in “Hate That I Made You Love Me” that’s, “Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts of your own accord?” It’s not her fault that you fell in love with her. And it, again, applies to literally a partner or a fan or somebody who’s just consuming her music or in the media or whatever. It’s super interesting. But I did think for a moment that “Big Feelings” and “Never Get Over Me” sound like they could be about Ethan Slater.

SM: I think about how invested the press and public were in that relationship; it’s hard not to look at it with that specific relationship top of mind.

A Blend of Sounds

SM: I also like how she brings all these old-timey sounds into the album too.

EG: The piano break!

SM: It feels like it’s from a different time in some areas. And then there are other areas where the production is very modern. She does such a good job of incorporating these sounds that make it feel like a movie. I thought the ordering of the tracks was very important here in a way that I haven’t necessarily felt with an Ari album before. I felt like it told the story from start to finish.

EG: There were a lot of minor-key sounds and chord progressions here that reminded me of “Imperfect for You.” She’s done it before, but she uses sound to help paint a picture. And the little bloops and blops from the beginning of “Hate That I Made You Love Me” were a recurring trend; they’re also at the end of “Bad Thing (Bunny Hop).” So it’s cinematic and storytelling even when it comes to the little accents.

The Message in the Lyrics

EG: I feel like it’s expanding on “Yes, And?” from the last album. That was her trying to be nonchalant about the criticism when it was still tolerable. But now that it’s gotten out of hand, she’s saying something that’s bolder and stronger, more aggressive.

SM: Agree. I’m curious if it’s what fans want, because on the Eternal Sunshine Tour, the moments that I keep seeing going viral on social media are when she opts up in “Break Free” or when she’s popping off on “Dangerous Woman” and giving these huge vocal moments, but this is not that. I just am very curious to see the reaction.

EG: I agree. But I feel like people might just obsess over the lyrics, just about what she’s saying, because they’re so bold at times. “You don’t deserve me.” “I won’t give you your fantasy this time.” All these very straightforward and straight-up angry lyrics.

SM: I have this fear that it’s going to go over people’s heads, and they’re going to be like, “Oh my God, she wrote this whole album about Ethan.” Guys, I definitely think he’s a player in this album. Don’t get me wrong. But this is not about him. It’s about us.

EG: “This play is about us.”

SM: This play is literally about us. It’s about our relationship with her, our relationship with her as a celebrity. I also think she’s in a place where that also won’t alienate fans. She’s big enough to where she can make this kind of statement. But if she had made this album earlier in her career, I think it would’ve been bombastic. It makes sense that this album is coming now after she has been heavily scrutinized.

“Nowhere, Nobody”

SM: It was such a romantic number. I also thought it was the perfect ending to the album. I think there’s a line in it that was like, “What’s the finale going to be?” Or something like that, like, “I don’t know how this is going to end, but I want to live in this moment with you.” As a lover boy, I do that a bunch. This album really spoke to me. My friends always make fun of me. I fall for a boy and they’re like, “Red flag, red flag, red flag.” And I’m like, “Who cares? Let’s go for it!” Maybe I need to find my inner Ariana Grande and start to be more contemplative about those red flags.

EG: In “Stay,” she was like, “Will you make me safe this time?” Or something like that. And I feel like she’s being very vulnerable about her insecurities about being abandoned, which could apply to a romantic relationship or supporters or friends, “industry friends.” Like, “Can I really trust you?”

Layered Harmonies

SM: I was here for it. I also thought there was a lot of very beautiful vocal layering. A lot of good harmony throughout. That was very beautiful and showed that, I really think, she’s a musician first. She understands music and understands how to make it effectively. I get very mad that she has not received a lot of Grammy love in her time because I do think her writing is very strong and she knows how to produce a track, and she is the driving force behind her music. So it makes me very sad that Eternal Sunshine wasn’t up for Album of the Year and things like that because I think her music deserves a lot more love, which again, as an Ari super fan, of course I think, but—

EG: But it’s true.

SM: It’s upsetting to me that I feel like the wider industry still doesn’t fully recognize her as this incredible musician when I think she takes a lot of techniques from pop, jazz, musical theater, and really combines them into these incredible songs.

Grande’s Enunciation

SM: She got so much flack early on—and kind of still does—for her lack of enunciation. Do you think we had that problem again here? Sometimes in these songs, it was hard for me to understand what she was saying, which I think is so her and almost a hallmark of her music sometimes. But there were those kinds of more floaty vocal lines here.

EG: I felt like it was kind of like a return to self or a return to form, like the old Ari is back. Glinda’s leaving her body…. I did catch one “yuh!”

SM: Where? I couldn’t find one.

EG: It’s in “Petal.”

SM: Oh, missed it. Damn it. Reject modernity, embrace tradition.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.