Ariana Grande releases highly awaited new single ‘Focus’
Ariana Grande is back. After a very successful string of hits with ‘Problem’, ‘Break Free’, ‘Love Me Harder’ and ‘One Last Time’ she moved on to a next era. You got to strike the iron while it’s hot, right Ari? She also must have thought, if ‘Problem’ was the hit that made me an international pop star, why not repeat the winning formula with single ‘Focus’? It maybe is not the most adventurous choice as this sound has proven itself to be successful before, but when the result is again so infectious and swinging, then I am not complaining at all.

‘Focus’ starts out with pretty, melodic verses and a bridge to the chorus where Ariana already shows off that gorgeous, high pitched voice of hers. Then this man comes in and screams: “Focus on me, F-F-Focus on me!” and you can’t help but compare this to the whispering “I’ve got one less problem without you” moment in ‘Problem’. The dude on ‘Focus’ does need a little longer to get used to, but once you have heard it a few times you can’t help to scream and stutter along. His part is accompanied by little screams and shrieks, like the ear catching production of Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’. The best part comes when Ariana counts after the second chorus and the trumpets take a prominent place. So catchy! Of course we get some belting by the little diva as well and by that time you are already convinced that this track will be her next worldwide hit.

Ariana immediately released the video for ‘Focus’ which shows her sporting her grey/blonde locks for the first time. She is sexy and sensual on camera and the choreography halfway through is nice enough. The video setting is quite similar to ‘Problem’ as well, but the good thing is that both the song and video do not feel like a cheap rehash, but more like a natural next step.