Last week, Ariana Grande announced, literally without any forewarning, that she would be dropping a new album before the end of the month, leaving us all gasping for more juicy information on what should (if Adele’s record doesn’t drop, as it’s rumoured to, on the same date) be the most talked about record of 2020. Over the weekend, a countdown clock on Ari’s website suggested that a new single is expected to drop on 23 October (that’s this Friday!), with a full length album arriving the week after on 30 October. And as for its title? Well, it looks like it will be called POSITIONS.
Her fans came to this conclusion after she released a video on her Instagram feed of her typing the word “positions” in slow-motion on what appears to be a mixing desk keyboard. Perhaps it’s symbolic of her signing off the project she’s just finished in secret?
If the new single does arrive this Friday, it will be the first time Ariana will have released a solo project since 2019’s “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored”. In the meantime, she’s laid low on her own projects, popping up to collaborate with the likes of Victoria Monet, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and, of course, Lady Gaga, in the past 18 months. What the project will sound like is still a mystery, however a story repost from The Weeknd led some to believe he may feature on the lead single; the first link-up between the pop juggernaut’s since 2014’s “Love Me Harder”. Similarly, cult producer Oneohtrix Point Never also reposted it on his feed, suggesting that he could have some sort of involvement.
But he quickly took to Twitter to clear things up:
So there we have it! A new album and single, both of them apparently called “POSITIONS”, potentially featuring The Weeknd and definitely not produced by Oneohtrix Point Never. Keep your eyes peeled for more information as it unfolds.