Sweetener (album)

Sweetener is the fourth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on August 17, 2018.[2] Grande revealed the album's name and a few of its tracks on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on May 1, 2018. The album's lead single, "No Tears Left to Cry", has reached number one in Australia and the top three in the US, UK, and Canada.

Sweetener
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 17, 2018
Recorded2017–2018
Genre
LabelRepublic
Producer
  • Max Martin
  • Ilya
  • Savan Kotecha
  • Pharrell Williams
  • Brian Malik Baptiste
  • Hit-Boy
  • Tommy Brown
  • Charles Anderson
  • Michael Foster[1]
Ariana Grande studio albums chronology
Dangerous Woman
(2016)
Sweetener
(2018)
Thank U, Next
(2019)
Singles from Sweetener
  1. "No Tears Left to Cry"
    Released: April 20, 2018
  2. "God Is a Woman"
    Released: July 13, 2018
  3. "Breathin"
    Released: September 18, 2018

Without announcing the album's release date at first, Grande revealed to Fallon that she would "do something special" on the 20th of each month until the album's release, such as performing at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on May 20, 2018. She announced that she would be collaborating with Pharrell Williams, Nas, and longtime collaborators Max Martin, Ilya, and Savan Kotecha.[3]

The album entered at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, with 231,000 copies shipped and streamed in its first week in the US.[4]

Track listing

Standard edition[5]
No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "Raindrops (An Angel Cried)"   0:37
2. "Blazed" (featuring Pharrell Williams)Williams 3:16
3. "The Light Is Coming" (featuring Nicki Minaj)Williams 3:48
4. "R.E.M."  Williams 4:05
5. "God Is a Woman"  Ilya 3:17
6. "Sweetener"  Williams 3:28
7. "Successful"  Williams 3:47
8. "Everytime"  
  • Ilya
  • Martin
2:52
9. "Breathin"  Ilya 3:18
10. "No Tears Left to Cry"  
  • Ilya
  • Martin
3:25
11. "Borderline" (featuring Missy Elliott)Williams 2:57
12. "Better Off"  
2:51
13. "Goodnight n Go"  
  • Brown
  • Anderson
  • Foster
3:09
14. "Pete Davidson"  
  • Brown
  • Anderson
1:13
15. "Get Well Soon"  Williams 5:22
Total length:
47:25
Japanese edition (bonus tracks)[6]
No. Title Length
16. "No Tears Left to Cry" (instrumental) 3:25
17. "God Is a Woman" (instrumental) 3:17
Total length:
54:07
Japanese deluxe edition (bonus DVD)[7]
No. TitleDirector(s) Length
1. "No Tears Left to Cry" (music video)Dave Meyers 3:59
2. "The Light Is Coming" (music video, featuring Nicki Minaj)Meyers 3:53
Total length:
7:52

Notes

  • "Raindrops (An Angel Cried)" is an a cappella cover of "An Angel Cried", a 1964 song written by Bob Gaudio and performed by The Four Seasons.[8]
  • "R.E.M." contains elements of "Wake Up", a demo track by Beyoncé.[9]
  • "Goodnight n Go" contains a sample of and incorporates lyrics from "Goodnight and Go" (2006), written and performed by Imogen Heap.
  • "Get Well Soon" contains 40 seconds of silence at the end of the track, which brings the total playtime of the track to 5:22 - something speculated by fans to align with the date of the Manchester Arena bombing, which took place on May 22, 2017 (5/22).[10][11]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[13] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 1
US Billboard 200[15] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2018) Position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[13] 35
US Billboard 200[15] 38

References

  1. "Ariana Grande - Sweetener (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  2. Sweetener by Ariana Grande, 2018-08-17, retrieved 2018-06-21
  3. "What we learned from Ariana's Fallon interview" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2018-05-02. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43968675. Retrieved 2018-05-02. 
  4. "Ariana Grande Earns Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Sweetener'". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8472196/ariana-grande-sweetener-number-one-billboard-200-chart. Retrieved 2018-09-07. 
  5. Sweetener (booklet). Ariana Grande. New York City: Republic Records. 2018. B002881502. 
  6. "CDJapan: Sweetener Special Price Edition [Limited Edition] Ariana Grande Album". CDJapan. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  7. "アリアナ・グランデ『Sweetener』特設サイト". Universal Music Japan. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  8. Farley, Rebecca (May 2, 2018). "Everything We Know About Ariana Grande's New Album Sweetener". Refinery29. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  9. Hussein, Wandera (July 30, 2018). "Ariana Grande's "REM" is a flip of a leaked Beyoncé song". Fader (thefader.com). Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  10. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Cosmo tribute.
  11. Rincón, Alessandra (August 17, 2018). "Fans Speculate Ariana Grande's Sweetener Track 'Get Well Soon' Is 5:22 Long to Honor Manchester Attack". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8470760/fans-speculate-ariana-grande-get-well-soon-honors-manchester. Retrieved August 29, 2018. 
  12. "Australiancharts.com – Ariana Grande – Sweetener". Hung Medien.
  13. 13.0 13.1 "Ariana Grande Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  14. "Ariana Grande | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Ariana Grande Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.