‘My Everything’
Ariana Grande
(Universal Republic)
Two stars (out of four)
Ariana Grande isn’t Mariah Carey, but therein lay the problem: Grande doesn’t know who she is. Although her voice is incredibly distinct, she has yet to truly find her sound, and bounces between pop producers with wild abandon, as if she’s just throwing thing at the wall just to see what will stick on the charts. With the run-up to the release of sophomore album “My Everything”, it seems that everything Grande touched turned into a chart hit, her appeal wider than ever, but as the album plays on, Grande sounds more and more like a guest vocalist on her own album, her grab bag of producers leaving their own distinctive marks instead of truly letting her own personality flourish.