Lady Gaga has gone on record to say that her upcoming album Chromatic will be all about the dancery. There was no way to gauge that from "Stupid Love", because it fell into the territory that all of Lady Gaga's lead singles have fallen into since Born This Way, which is pretty average with a really good chorus and not much of a heavy hitter on the dancefloor. But "Rain On Me" is a different story. Lady Gaga said 'I'm gonna give the non-Gaga-stan-gays everything they want' because this is some four-on-the-floor house shit from the 90s without all of the now trademark Gaga-isms. It's just about the vibe.
When I heard that Lady Gaga had cut a song with Ariana Grande, I did wonder how it would sound, given that Gaga and Ariana's sounds are so different. Ariana has gone to lengths to move herself more into R&B territory after going wholly Pop with her third studio album Dangerous Woman. An album that Lady Gaga has dragged Ariana back to by her ponytail.
"Rain On Me" feels very much like an Ariana Grande song from Dangerous Woman, had Ariana cut a song with Zedd for it. It's like "Break Free" and "Be Alright" smashed together, which is no bad thing at all. Ariana fans who fell out of the direction her sound took from Sweetener onward will love this shit, because it's a swerve into the alternate universe where Ariana stayed doing Dance Pop.
"Rain On Me" presents an interesting dynamic. Whilst to me it sounds very much like an Ariana Grande song, the fact it's Dance, House and gay as hell is on brand for Gaga. Lady Gaga could have done this song herself and it would have sounded good. Ariana Grande could have done this song herself and it also would have sounded good. And this is where it gets funny for me, because I feel this song would have been stronger if Gaga and Ariana weren't on it together, if they weren't going to give all of themselves to the song.
Gaga gives Ariana all of the room to just be Ariana, but she concedes; possibly because she didn't want to feel like she's taking over the song. There are moments on "Rain On Me" which needed Ariana to give us a big ass belt, but she doesn't. And whilst Lady Gaga could give us something, she also doesn't. So you're left with a lot of space in the song where neither artist is giving us what you're expecting them to give, know they're capable of giving and know they would have given if they weren't sharing the song.
It's going to be interesting hearing "Rain On Me" live, because Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande aren't going to be able to perform the song together all of the time. So there's a likelihood that Gaga will sing all of the song herself, because why just have a playback of Ariana's part? And if Ariana performs it live, she'll more than likely sing Lady Gaga's parts, as she has a habit of rapping and / or singing other artists parts on songs of her which had guest features. I may get to hear more of what each of them intended or wanted to do on the song in the studio.
"Rain On Me" is a good song. It's fun, it's familiar and it's got the feel-good factor in spades. Great production and a great hook. Radio will love it, clubs will play it once they open back in 2023 and the gay house party vol. 2 DJ will bump this on repeat. But there are things that could have taken it from good to greatness. There should have been a middle-8 with a chord change and a verse which has Gaga and Ariana going back and forth. The bridge should have had a far more epic build and really culminated in Ariana and Gaga giving us big vocals. The ad-libs at the end should've been taking us all to white high school church. But the song just comes and goes. Short 'n' sweet. But it could definitely do with an extended mix.
🔊 Stream "Rain On Me": Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music | Google Play Music
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