Ariana Grande returns from the wilderness with the first taste from her third album, Moonlight. Brave lady. She obviously didn't get the memo of a certain someone else returning and reserving the throne until mid-quarter 2017.
Rhythmic (though oddly tempoed) and sparse, the Max Martin produced Focus could be Ariana's least vocally impressive song to date. That wouldn't be such a terrible thing if the production or melody gave us something else to sink our gnashers into. But as it is, the visuals seem to be the biggest draw to the track, with better implementation of choreography and a new wig being werked thoroughly hard throughout. (I can already see the Gifs flooding my Tumblr dashboard!)
However, I'm about the music, so my real issue is how derivative Focus is of the Diva's biggest hit Problem. There's a male spoken chorus, similar runs, mirrored exclamations, a shared song structure and horns! This wouldn't necessarily be an awful thing- since Problem is a great pop song- but Focus pales in comparison to the original.
Truth is, Focus is serving up stale teas when it should be giving excitement and a reinvigorating slap in the face. Oh, how I longed for a slap in the face....maybe next single.
Rating:C-
Thoughts?
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