Ariana Grande
Yours Truly

Recipe for composing the "dish" named "Ariana Grande". Ingredients: a crate of good pop, fresh and in season, inviting and a bit playful-retro; a bunch of the best R&B crop, stripped of any dance-electronic aberrations and cleaned with an adequate spray of anti-fake ghetto hip-hop insecticide; classical yet frivolous soul, just as needed; a pinch of Motown and boogie style - rhythm and blues; a generous amount of great voice, with the necessary precautions regarding correct and skillful use (no warbling, no unnecessary vocalizations, no mating calls on the horizon). Preparation: mix all the ingredients, season them and blend them together with a handful of early Mariah Carey (from the trio Mariah Carey - Emotions - Music Box, far from the pathetic outbursts of sex symbol antics and dalliances with pimp-rapper types), a touch of pre-downfall Whitney Houston (variations recommended: Whitney Houston, Whitney and I'm Your Baby Tonight) and finally a light trace of Celine Dion similar to The Power of Love, Let's Talk About Love, and Falling Into You. Finally, serve the mix on a beautiful serving plate, simple, impactful, pure white.

Ariana Grande, born in 1993, is the young promise of pop who, with an album just launched in stores and a handful of singles, is preparing to storm the enchanted castle of the Disney-like princesses/madams/queens of the easy approach. Evident Italian origins, a clean voice and a lot of charisma that doesn't need gimmicky scandalous-erotic-sexual tricks - at least for now - Ariana comes from Nickelodeon's TV series stable and only in 2010, after years of publishing covers of famous songs on YouTube, she managed to win over the majors. Her debut single, Put Your Hearts Up, bubblegum in nature, went unnoticed and only her subsequent collaboration with Mika in Popular Song managed to generate some interest until the recent boom of The Way, the first real main dish as well as the first single from Yours Truly. Meanwhile, the beautiful lady handles live performances well, delivering a masterful rendition of Carey's Emotions, the artist to whom she pays the greatest tribute in terms of inspiration.

Yours Truly should be seen in the context of the current renaissance of anti-danceable pop, anti-disco and anti-theatricality, far more inclined towards the genuineness of the performers and the valid simplicity of the productions. Paying homage to the aforementioned Carey-Houston-Dion trio, as well as the Motown trend, the contemporary R&B-Disco wave (rising with the parallel phenomena Daft Punk-Pharrell Williams-Nile Rodgers and Robin Thicke), white soul and a touch of playful hip-hop, Ariana offers a collection of basic, genuine, and warm songs that reject any theatrical-scenographic pretensions: the melodies are catchy and pleasant, the arrangements essential and well-crafted, the voice adequately shaped in the various "excesses" of climax, descents, and levelings, the influences and references clear but not overwhelming. In short, no Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Disney dialectic (princess and princess "on the pea"), but just excellent pop accompanied by a tuned, sincere, and spontaneous voice.

The first single, The Way (featuring rapper Mac Miller), is an initial R&B-Hip Hop tribute to Mariah of the Nineties, halfway between Dreamlover, Honey, Fantasy, and Vision of Love, followed by the funkier-retro Baby I, the slightly danceable You'll Never Know, and the frivolous anti-ghetto formula of Right There (once again in duet with a rapper, Big Sean). This first batch of Carey-esque tracks accompanies the enveloping piano gospel ballad Almost Is Never Enough, presented with Nathan Sykes of the English boyband "The Wanted", the '50s pop-swing ballad Tattooed Heart, the not-too-"serious" R&B-synth pop mix in Daydreamin' and the cheerful Piano. The album closes with the slightly electo-dance piece Better Left Unsaid, probably a little gift to those who expected another dance-floor starlet.

I confess that Ariana Grande is the first true performer that has dampened, albeit not at 100%, my prejudices about the international under-21s of mainstream pop, previously corrupted by the Disney flow and questionable solo and group proposals. Perhaps, it will be Ariana herself to exonerate the new generation she belongs to, provided she doesn't fall into the pit of commercial exploitation. So she must be very careful.

Ariana Grande, Yours Truly

Honeymoon Avenue - Baby I - Right There - Tattooed Heart - Lovin' It - Piano - Daydreamin' - The Way - You'll Never Know - Almost Is Never Enough - Popular Song - Better Left Unsaid.