The singer-songwriter released her eighth studio album, Petal, on Friday, July 31
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Ariana Grande’s new album Petal explores themes of overcoming negativity and personal growth
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The music video for the title track features symbolic — and gory — imagery of societal expectations and fame
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Grande previously described the album as “feral” and inspired by breaking free from internal and external challenges
Ariana Grande has had it.
To mark the release of her eighth studio album, Petal, on Friday, July 31, the pop star also debuted a gory — yet symbolic — music video for the title track.
The music video, directed by Christian Breslauer, contains a graphic content warning at the beginning before Grande, 33, arrives at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a yellow cab for an audition. When she arrives, there’s a flower stemming from the ground on a star.
Grande then introduces herself as Pepper and takes a seat next to several women dressed in colorful dresses — and she auditions in front of a group of men who label her as “not good enough.”
Credit: Ariana Grande/Youtube
Then, she returns in a black outfit and sunglasses for a second audition — and she’s again labeled “not good enough.” She does this again with a cow-print outfit and she gets the same reaction — but this time she’s also labeled “desperate.”
Each time she leaves for an outfit change and new rejection, the flower on the ground from the opening scene begins to wither away.
“You know, there’s something about you. You give off this feeling that is… It’s unmarketable,” a man at the table says to her after another audition, as another calls her “unattractive” and “inauthentic.”
“The way you used to be, I miss that,” a different man said. “You got some personality disorder going on?”
Clearly hurt by their comments, Grande kindly thanks them and begins to walk away. Then, a red silhouette appears and Grande picks up a chainsaw to kill them all slowly.
Credit: Ariana Grande/Youtube
Covered in blood, she walks back into the waiting room where all of the women cheer her on — and a woman even says, “Good for you, bitch.”
Still covered in blood, Grande goes to a restaurant and opens a fortune cookie that reads, “You bloom where ever you are planted.”
By the end of the video, a voice calls “cut” and Grande reveals she was filming the entire time. Then, the director calls her up and says “this town deserves a star like you.”
Outside of the building, Grande is met by screaming fans and the flower next to the star — which belongs to her — is completely withered away.
Credit: Katia Temkin
“Petal” serves as the title track for her brand-new studio album, which features 12 songs total. Grande previously released “hate that I made you love me.”
In May, Grande opened up about the inspiration behind the album on social media and said it was “basically about something that is full of life growing through the cracks of something that is cold and hard and challenging.”
“It’s kind of about breaking up with all different kinds of negative attachments, whether it’s my own monsters in my own head, external voices, things that no longer serve me,” added Grande. “I could be talking about one thing, sharing something, and people could use it however they want and apply it to their own lives.”
She also said the album was “a little feral.”
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