This was the lead single and title track from Ariana Grande’s first ‘adult’ album, the one marking her full graduation to Pop-star womanhood after unveiling the persona on the single “Love Me Harder” from her last album My Everything. The song itself is another superb piece of retro-R&B from Grande, with an absolutely epic chorus that provides her a superb chance to shows off her magnificent voice. Only one thing keeps this song slightly below the level of her other singles from around this time. Here, her sexiness still feels like a pose…she comes off on this song as a teenybopper star playing dress-up as a femme fatale, as opposed to the utterly natural and convincing sultriness heard on “Love Me Harder” or her next two singles, “Be Alright” and “Into You”. The result is more adorable than sexy, and while that still makes for an extremely enjoyable listen, it doesn’t seem like that was what the song was going for. So, on the whole, this is a terrific single, but its reach still somewhat exceeds its grasp, and it doesn’t achieve the same perfection as her next two hits.
Verdict: Good, but not as good as it could have been.