Ariana Grande’s ‘Petal’: The 5 Best Tracks
Following a period in which her work in Wicked occupied much of the public conversation around her career, Ariana Grande has made a major return to the music space with her eighth studio album, Petal. Released July 31, the 12-track project reunites Grande with longtime collaborator Ilya while moving through pop and R&B with flashes of garage, dream-pop, and rock-influenced production.
Commercially, petal arrived as another major success for Grande. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning her a seventh chart-topping album and her biggest debut on the chart since thank u, next, while surpassing 500,000 Adjusted Albums globally during its first week. It also opened at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums charts, as well as Spotify’s Global and U.S. Top Albums rankings. Its release week delivered the biggest global Spotify streaming day of Grande’s career, with more than 95 million streams across her catalog. With that momentum behind her return, the album’s impact is clear—and these are the five petal tracks that stand above the rest.
“oh well”
“oh well” is one of Petal’s most effortless songs, pairing Grande’s layered vocals with a restless, garage-influenced rhythm that gives the track a constant sense of movement. That balance is where the song truly excels. Grande never needs to overpower the production; her breezy delivery makes its sense of dismissal feel casual and convincing. Within an album that often operates at a deliberately subdued pace, “oh well” provides a welcome rhythmic lift.
“nowhere, nobody”
As Petal reaches its final track, “nowhere, nobody” brings the album toward a softer conclusion. Grande layers her voice across an airy arrangement that maintains the record’s intimate atmosphere while allowing its melody to take greater prominence. Its placement also gives the song additional importance. After the sharper emotions and increasingly energetic production of the album’s later stretch, “nowhere, nobody” feels reflective without becoming overly dramatic, closing the record on a note that remains emotionally open rather than overly resolved.
“stay”
“stay” gives Grande more room to foreground the voice that has always been central to her appeal. Her vocals feel broader in scale here, while the occasional sections of stripped-back production allow the melody to carry much of the song’s weight. There is a magnetic simplicity to the track that helps it stand apart from some of Petal’s more atmospheric material. By leaving space around Grande’s performance, “stay” becomes one of the album’s most immediately affecting moments.
“bad thing (bunny hop)”
“bad thing (bunny hop)” arrives during Petal’s strongest final stretch with an immediate burst of momentum. Dreamy guitars and driving pop production give the track a brighter, more kinetic character, while Grande leans into the excitement and recklessness of attraction. The song is especially effective because it loosens the album up. There is a playful immediacy here that makes “bad thing” easy to return to, combining Petal’s hazier sonic palette with one of its clearest pop moments.
“petal”
The title track feels like the clearest representation of the world Grande creates across the album. Darker electronic textures, distorted elements, and her airy vocal approach give “petal” an unsettled quality that separates it from the smoother pop surrounding much of her catalog. Its importance also extends beyond production. The imagery surrounding Petal centers on growth emerging from difficult circumstances, and the title track naturally becomes one of the album’s strongest expressions of that idea. Atmospheric, nostalgic, slightly strange, and emotionally layered, “petal” feels like the project’s most complete meeting point between Grande’s evolving sound and the perspective that shapes this chapter of her music.
