Music video: Ariana Grande featuring The Weeknd - Love me harder

"Love me harder" is one of my stand outs from Ariana's My everything, so I'm glad it's being released as a single. Especially after "Problem" and "Break free", which despite being hits and doing what they needed to, were pretty throwaway songs and didn't show much of an evolution from Ariana's debut Truly yours.

Whilst "Love me harder" is a good song, there is a complete disconnect between the acts and the subject matter of the song. Neither Ariana nor The Weeknd sell the theme of the song on the song itself or in the video. The concept of the video is great, but the set and the visuals conveyed the sensuality of the song in a way that made Ariana and The Weekdn feel completely redundant, because nothing they did added to the video or the sensuality of the song.

When I think of an example of good, tangible sexual chemistry on song and on screen I think Maroon 5 and Rihanna's "If I never see your face again". Comparing Ariana and The Weekend to acts such as Rihanna and Adam Levine who just ooze and exude sex without trying may be an unfair comparison. But it can make such a difference to the end result, and the end result here are cases of great concepts executed badly by the wrong people. The song would have worked better had it been a solo effort on Ariana's part. Ariana can't sell sex for shit, but it would have been a lot more passable if there wasn't such a obvious divide between her and her guest artist.