REVIEW

Ariana Grande's debut is among year's best

By AP's Mesfin Fekadu

[September 04, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Ariana Grande, "Yours Truly" (Republic Records)

While Miley Cyrus is being a wild child to demonstrate she is growing up, Ariana Grande is letting her music do all the talking.

The 20-year-old singer-actress, one of the stars of Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and the network's spinoff "Sam and Cat," is in near-perfect form on her debut, mainly thanks to her Mariah Carey-esque vocals and songs written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

"Yours Truly" kicks off with the R&B-flavored, near-6-minute "Honeymoon Avenue." It's dreamy, velvety and warm, and backed with shoo-be-doos and violins. It sounds as good as a Justin Timberlake intro.

Grande uses her voice as an instrument throughout the 12-track set: "Baby I," with its finger snaps, features her screaming high notes; "Tattooed Heart" and "Daydreamin'" are A-List ballads; and on "The Way," her lead single and Top 10 hit, Grande's voice sounds like a Carey-Toni Braxton mash- up.

Her breakthrough comes at a time when other former Disney-Nickelodeon stars have pop hits -- Cyrus and Selena Gomez are following the Rihanna track with "We Can't Stop" and "Come & Get It," while Demi Lovato's latest sound mirrors Kelly Clarkson. But Grande is looking back to a '90s R&B-pop feel on her debut -- and her formula works better than the others. "Almost Is Never Enough," a duet with The Wanted's best vocalist, Nathan Sykes, sounds classic and the Big Sean-assisted "Right There," which samples Jeff Lorber's "Rain Dance" -- also sampled for Lil Kim's "Crush on You" -- could easily be a No. 1 hit.

Carey should be proud.

[Associated Press; By MESFIN FEKADU]

Follow Mesfin Fekadu at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.