Music & Concerts
New Ariana Grande album ‘Sweetener’ is fun, daring
Non-stop dance-pop fun ensues after Pharrell-produced opening set


Ariana Grande continues her pop domination on her fourth album ‘Sweetener.’ (Photo courtesy Republic)
It would hardly be an understatement to say Ariana Grande is the biggest phenomenon in pop music right now. At 25, she has already landed two albums at the Billboard no. 1 spot, as well as a third at no. 2, and the number of her monthly listeners on Spotify is approaching 40 million. She has also regularly collaborated with other artists, including several songs with Nicki Minaj and the recent single “Dance to This” with Troye Sivan, from his upcoming album “Bloom.”
Her fourth studio album, “Sweetener,” which debuted at no. 1 on iTunes, is in large part a return to familiar themes of love, sex and romance, and the singer continues to bring her vocal A-game. But it’s also Grande’s first major release since her 2017 Manchester concert was the target of a terrorist attack.
In contrast to “Dangerous Woman” (2016), which featured hits “Into You” and “Side to Side,” the new record takes a more reflective tone. It prefers a sample-heavy, often futuristic-sounding R&B to the straightforward dance-pop sound of earlier hits like “Break Away.” It’s a sophisticated album that is both provocative — see the single entitled “God is a woman” — and irresistibly likeable.
With the exception of the short introductory track entitled “raindrops (an angel cried),” the first several songs were written and produced by rapper Pharrell Williams, who collaborated with Grande on several tracks which turn out to be the album’s most experimental.
The song “blazed” (featuring Williams) has a strange, uptempo bass and percussion groove with otherwise sparse instrumentation. Over the percussion-heavy accompaniment, Williams relies on his falsetto while Grande sings with a robust ‘90s R&B sound. The following track, “the light is coming” (featuring Nicki Minaj), is another somewhat odd track that relies on highly repetitive samples.
The first several songs feel like yawn and stretch, a sort of warmup for the rest of the album, which truly hits its stride with “R.E.M.” And once it gets going, it doesn’t miss a beat.
“R.E.M” has a sexy R&B/rap sound, reminiscent of artists like Frank Ocean. This, in turn, is followed by “God is a woman,” released as the album’s second single. The song cleverly employs sacred language to talk about profane, sensual things. But there is no ambiguity when Grande sings in her sensuous soprano, “When all is said and done/You’ll believe God is a woman.”
The record’s title number is a cheery, R&B-infused pop track. It’s an interesting place from which to draw the album’s title, which could have just as easily been “no tears left to cry” or “God is a woman.” It’s neither the best written nor the most powerful song on the record. What it captures, however, is a certain defiant optimism that runs through the music. After the tragedy in Manchester, Grande is chin-up, looking at the brighter side of things.
The album’s lead single, “no tears left to cry,” deals explicitly with the need to move on after a tragedy: “Ain’t got no tears left to cry/So I’m pickin’ it up.” The song is one of several collaborations between Grande and Swedish songwriters ILYA and Max Martin, who also produced the multi-platinum lead single “Problem” from her sophomore album. “no tears left to cry” shares a similar musical feel that is as warm as it is methodical. The collaboration is an unsurprising pick for the lead single, and the formula appears to have worked again: the music video is just shy of 500 million views on Youtube.
There are so many good songs on the album that it’s almost hard to choose favorites — “better off,” “everytime” and “goodnight n go” are all solid contenders. The song “breathin,” which deals with anxiety, is another well-crafted and catchy collaboration with ILYA. One thing, however, is clear: “Sweetener” is album from an artist at the height of her powers, a pop diva for a new generation.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”