Ariana Grande – Thank You, Next (Vinyl 2LP)

What do you do when things fall apart? If you’re Ariana Grande, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and head for the studio. Her hopeful fourth album, Sweetener — written after the deadly attack at her concert in Manchester, England — encouraged fans to stay strong and open to love (at the time, the singer was newly engaged to Pete Davidson). Shortly after the album’s release in August 2018, things fell apart again: Grande’s ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, died from an overdose in September, and when she broke off her engagement a few weeks later, Davidson took to Instagram to tell fans he didn’t want to be “on this earth anymore.”

Again, Grande took solace from the intense, and intensely public, melodrama in songwriting, but this time things were different. thank u, next, mostly recorded over those tumultuous months, sees her turning inward in an effort to cope, grieve, heal, and let go.