Eight years after releasing collaboration “Love Me Harder” and three years after releasing remix “Save Your Tears,” The Weeknd & Ariana Grande return with their third collaboration, “Die For You.” Released on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, the duo’s new song failed to meet the high standards set by fans. 

The entire first portion of the remix was unchanged, same as the original, and as listeners, we were constantly waiting for the first hint of Ariana within the song. When she finally began her solo verses almost two minutes in, that’s when we realized we were about to fall right back into our Ariana Grande phases from 2018. Her voice distinctly matured but it still held the same angelic ring that we admire her for. Grande entered the song with a strong, high-pitched vocal about one minute into the song. Immediately, we began listening more attentively, however much to our dismay, Grande only followed with a few more backing vocals for the rest of the first chorus. 

What we desperately needed all throughout the remix was a “yuh” from Grande. We waited—3:52 minutes—for this and the most we got was a “ooh,” which was beautiful, but not satisfactory. The song was primarily dominated by unchanged portions by The Weeknd and though it makes sense, we, as listeners and avid fans, wish that there was more of a collab aspect. The song was divided into sections by the two artists and what we sincerely wish they included were alternating verses to better contrast the duo’s distinction in voice and perspective. 

Grande’s vocals, although as angelic as ever did not fit into the theme and beat of the rest of the song. Her voice itself is delicate and cathartic, but coupled with the stronger beats of the track did not compliment each other. This is what the remix heavily lacked, because of the high standards the duo had previously set, fans had an expectation of this remix to be an iconic game changer that “Save Your Tears” and “Love Me Harder” was. This remix fell below the belt. With minimal changes, most struggled to hear a difference from the original track and those who did hear the verse change with Ariana considered it to be jarring and out of place with the rest of the song. 

The lyrics of the remix, slightly different from those of the original to portray a contrasting perspective, were arguably much better. It resonated stronger emotionally and rhythmically, and the careful switch from “I” to “you” in every verse added additional flair to the second-half of the song. When Grande sang, “And you insinuating that you think we might be better,” we immediately faltered in awe—her emphasis on “insinuating” and voice on its own was a breathtaking interlude. Grande’s solo part was rich and definitely lived up to our expectations. However, we can’t say the same about the song as a whole. 

Perhaps our opinions on this song are slightly biased, especially since the original “Die For You” has been overplayed on our TikTok For You Pages way too many times. But nonetheless, the remix doesn’t ring the same memorable way the original and The Weeknd & Ariana Grande collabs have done in the past. It will still reach the charts, not because it brought something new to the table, but because of the artists’ given fanbase and popularity. The song is cohesive, and undeniably demonstrates the capability of both artists, however, it failed to mix the two voices together and performed below its promised potential.