Skipping into 2024 with a breezy, ponytail-flipper of a beat, Ariana Grande’s first single in three years has a perky new year resolution vibe. “Yes, And?”, riding high on a breezy, brush-off title, channels the empowered attitude and snappy pulse of Madonna’s 1990 hit, “Vogue” (a song Grande covered on her 2015 Honeymoon tour). Fans of the same vintage as 52-year-old producer Max Martin may also catch a cheeky little nod back to British duo Mel and Kim’s 1987 house anthem “Respectable” in the brittle “take or leave us” sass of the phrasing.
“In case you haven’t noticed/ well everybody’s tired,” begins Grande over a squidgy little synth worm hook, muted key chords and thumping 4/4 beat. The Floridian singer who grew up modelling her vocals on the big gargling choruses of Celine Dion and Whitney Houston (learning to nail the drama while keeping the volume down) takes a sweet, light shimmery tone. Her voice soft and glancing as a make-up brush tickling your eardrum, she sets fans up to be themselves, regardless of haters. In another hat-tip to the queer history of “Vogue”, she sings: “Boy come on put your lipstick on,” before flitting into a chorus that wears its expletives like chiffon, urging listeners to “be like ‘yes, and?’/ say that s*** with your chest/ and be your own f***in’ best friend”.
In a month that has already seen The New York Times publish a 5,000-word essay crammed with inappropriate speculation on Taylor Swift’s sexuality, Grande delivers her own addition to the Swiftian “Shake It Off”/ “You Need to Calm Down” school of shushing judgey public commentary on a star’s personal life. Swift’s wit is sharper, but Grande’s ability to flutter so prettily through the storms of social media has its own warm, delicate appeal. She reminds me of a hummingbird, all iridescent precision and nectar, pretty notes flying so fast you don’t notice the blur of her wings.
Last April she made a rare speech on TikTok to hit back at public criticism of her apparent weight loss, noting that the “healthy” body some thought she should regain was actually the consequence of a period when (in the wake of the suicide bombing at her Manchester concert and the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller) she was taking antidepressants, drinking and not eating well. Now she clarifies: “don’t comment on my body, do not reply/ your business is yours and mine is mine”.
Martin – who’s been writing and producing for Grande since 2014’s “Bang Bang” – usually believes in songs building drama as they evolve. My own niggle with “Yes, And?” is that, after it’s stacked his trademark chorus-hook on verse-hook, the emotion doesn’t move on much further. But Martin and Grande have fun following the “Vogue” formula in the track’s structure. There’s a spoken word, bell tolling and handclap-backed section in which Grande preaches that her tongue is “sacred” and affirms that she’s “protected, sexy, discerning with my time”. Ideal for the manifesters on the dancefloor. No wonder it’s bopping towards the top of the iTunes chart. As the first single from Grande’s upcoming seventh album, it bodes very well. Thank u, Ariana. Next?
