Moses Sumney recently released his adventurous new Grae album, which nobody would correctly categorize as “pop.” That doesn’t mean Sumney couldn’t handle pop well, though, as he has proven his chops in that department: Today, he shared a cover of Ariana Grande’s smash hit “Thank U, Next” as an Amazon Music exclusive.
Of course, Sumney put his own spin on the track, and it’s profoundly unlike the original. The track begins minimally, with Sumney’s heavily AutoTuned vocals over drums and a soulful bass line. He works plucked strings, synths, and other instrumentation into the mix as he works through the track, which ends up being a wildly and pleasingly different take on the source material.
As for Grande, she recently commemorated the two-year anniversary of Sweetener and ranked her favorite songs from the album. She also jokingly teased the title to her Thank U, Next follow-up, which will probably not be named “was holdin my tiddies up with the other arm thats cropped out.” Grande has had plenty to celebrate lately, as she recently passed Rihanna to become the most-streamed female artist in Spotify history. Rihanna responded by asking for new Rihanna music, saying, “now can rihanna pls drop her album so she can rightfully snatch this back and fill my ears again please or…”
Listen to Sumney cover “Thank U, Next” above.