Ariana drops sultry new album, backs Biden

Ariana Grande had the twitterati abuzz Friday after dropping her third album in three years, a pandemic-era meld of juicy pop and soulful R&B that sees the superstar's soaring vocals turn increasingly carnal.

After releasing the title track "positions" last week along with a presidential cosplay music video - in which Grande and her all-female aides conduct White House business looking very Jackie O - the 27-year-old issued her sixth studio album days before a US election playing out during a still-raging pandemic. "love u so much I am so so grateful and excited," she wrote on Instagram hours before the album's release. "

can't stop cryin. hooooooooooo." Grande's album drop comes at a devastating moment for the music industry, with the lucrative tours artists rely on indefinitely stalled. "positions" sees the artist - who spent her early 20s tonally wavering between bubblegum eyelash batting and seductive lip-bites - lean into the raunch, pairing a more mature sound with unabashedly sexual lyrics.

The particularly thirsty "34+35" - you do the math - had social media flushed. Tracks including "nasty," "obvious," and collaborations with The Weeknd, Doja Cat and Ty Dolla $ign also jumped out as fan favorites. "baby pardon my french, but can you speak in tongues," Grande sings in "love language," swinging between her signature breathy lilt and impressive four-octave range.

----AFP