Music Review: Ariana Grande's 'Petal' displays a pop star at her most restrained

NEW YORK (AP) — Gone is the big-belter Ariana Grande. On “Petal,” her eighth studio album and first full-length release since both the end of her “Wicked” run and 2024's “Eternal Sunshine,” the pop powerhouse looks inward across 12 tracks of real restraint.

Lead single “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” with its muted reception and slinky hook, offered a direct taste of the vibe shift to come. The track, which became Grande's 10th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is marked by subdued vocal delivery that comes alive with its bubbling, arpeggiated synths and soft-pop chorus courtesy of Grande and her producers — Ilya Salmanzadeh, whom she has worked with since 2018's “Sweetener,” and the Swedish enigma Max Martin. Upon first listen, it felt like a bit of a test: Could the artist known for outsinging her competition pull off an understated vocal performance? “I hate that I made you love me,” she sings — to whom is up for interpretation. “'Cause I barely tried.”

There is an ease and effortlessness to the stickiest moments, and that's true of the bulk of the 12 songs that make up “Petal.” Peppy production returns on “Oh Well,” distracting from its clear kiss-off in the lyrics. “Good things can replace dysfunction, obsession,” she sings. “Thanks, but I’ll see you right out / Good luck on your way to hell / Oh well!”

There is a variety of textures here, and they are cooler than ever before — nearing lackadaisical, but still retaining a lot of charm.

“Petal” possesses a kind of somber R&B swagger indebted to SZA's smoothness; “Freak” plays out like a waking dream, or maybe a nightmare — a breezy confessional with hazy vocal overdubs. There are none of her signature runs, no larger-than-life vocal moment. Grande has moved on, as she is entitled to do. But is her “Big Feelings” subtlety enough to keep loyalists engaged?

A raunchier, dynamic Grande reappears on the album's final and best third, particularly atop the blown-out bass on “Like I Do,” or on the line “The grass is way greener / Since I been beneath ya” on the slow burn “Never Get Over Me.” It floats in and out, allowing album standout “Bad Thing (Bunny Hop)” to hit with the rush of a crush — its intended purpose, with the song's blast of dream-pop guitars, The Weeknd -esque propulsion and butterflies-in-the-stomach lyricism with her characteristically creative enunciation. (An example: “Feeling like a teenager / I guess I really needed ya.”) It leads to the closer “Nowhere, Nobody,” with its retro vocal melody and vocoder effects.

In the press materials for “Petal,” Grande described the album as “Something that is full of life and growing through the cracks of something cold and hard and challenging.” There is some truth to it: Across these dozen songs are small joys, buried beneath atmospheric production and listless melodies. But there is also a freedom to pop's most elastic vocalist choosing to rein it in.

“Petal” by Ariana Grande

Three stars out of five.

On repeat: “Bad Thing (Bunny Hop)”

Skip it: “Freak”

For fans of: Florals, getting the last laugh, ballet flats