Ariana Grande To Return After Manchester Attack, With A Little Help From Her Friends

Could we be getting new music from Ariana Grande this year? The pop star's fourth studio album may be closer than we think.

According to People, Grande previewed songs from her forthcoming album for her label Republic Records, manager Scooter Braun, and mother Joan Grande in Los Angeles on Friday. Now, that is a listening party we wish we could have been a part of. The consensus? Equal parts "Wow wow wow," and "Damn, incredible!!" according to her manager and her mother.

The singer first began teasing a possible album in December 2017 when she shared photos of herself in the studio mixing tracks on her Instagram story. It is her first project since the heartbreaking terror attack at her Manchester Arena concert last May. "She felt everything – every face they announced, every name, she wore on her sleeve. Every bit of emotion because that's who she is," said longtime manager Braun during an interview on the podcast Big Questions with Cal Fussman adding that when Grande learned that 22 people were killed and more than 500 were injured at the show, "she cried for days."

Grande responded to the tragedy by putting together the One Love Manchester concert one month later. More than 50,000 people came to see the singer as well as Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Niall Horan, and others perform. Tickets sold out in a lightning fast six minutes ultimately raising £10 million for those affected by the bombing.

So what do we know about her new album? While we don't know the release date just yet, we do know that we can expect some major hits. Both Max Martin and Pharrell Williams are two of the main producers on the album. Martin is a longtime collaborator with Grande and is responsible for hits such as "Problem" and "Side To Side" as well as contributing many of the songs on her last album Dangerous Woman. He has produced for the likes of Taylor Swift, Usher, and Katy Perry so if you are looking to have a chart-topping hit on your album, Martin is your person. Pharrell as an artist and producer needs no introduction. Not only has he worked with some of the greats, he is one. He and Grande worked together on Calvin Harris' Motown-inspired single "Heatstroke," so we know the two work well together.

2018 is already shaping up to be a big year for Grande. She has new music coming and it was recently announced that she would appear on another album. During an interview with Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, rapidly rising pop star Troye Sivan announced that Grande would be on at least one song on his sophomore album.

One thing is for certain, if they are already having listening parties, a single can't be far off which means 2018 just got a whole lot better.