Ariana Grande has quickly become the ‘it girl’ of our summer. But does ‘Break Free’, the second single from her sophomore album My Everything, live up to the first, the UK chart-topping hit single ‘Problem’?
Appropriately titled, ’Break Free’ sees the artist voyage even further into new territory, leaving her pop-R&B background behind to invade the club dance-floor. With the help of German producer Zedd, this transition is convincing enough. It’s a simplistic but slick EDM track with a pounding baseline to compliment Miss Grande’s belting vocals. We’d have expected nothing less from the producer of ‘Clarity’ and ‘Stay The Night’ which utilised vocals from Foxes and Paramore’s Hayley Williams.
The track’s lyrics, “This is the part where I say I don’t want ya/I’m stronger than I’ve been before”, prove not particularly memorable, but can at least be credited for a positive empowering message. Pop princess Miss Grande might have entered the club – and even stripped off in zero-gravity for her music video – but she retains her innocent image.
‘Break Free’ comes as a statement from a liberated artist who has recently escaped the pigeonhole that labeled her a product of Nickelodeon. To mock her lyricist Max Martin’s questionable grasp of grammar: Ariana Grande seems to have become who she really are. With a vocal range that has won comparisons to Mariah Carey, it’s perhaps time we started taking this girl seriously.
‘Break Free’ is out now through Republic records.
