Ariana Grande performing live in 2014.

Tabitha Wilson

Pop sensation Ariana Grande has released her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine – and it might be her most introspective work yet. 

Gorgeous, sweeping synths and breezy orchestral instrumentals combine with soft vocals and inward-looking lyricism to create Grande’s most vulnerable record to date.

On the titular Eternal Sunshine, Grande makes reference to the film that inspired the album’s title, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), where the titular characters erase their memories following the breakdown of a relationship.

This is further explored in the breathtakingly beautiful ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)’, with the accompanying music video featuring Grande undergoing a procedure to forget a painful breakup.

The theme extends to ‘I Wish I Hated You’, featuring melancholy lyricism such as “I rearrange our memories / I try to rewrite our life.”

Eternal Sunshine features some brighter tracks, including ‘Bye’, a retro-inspired, dance-pop record laced with disco influences.

‘The Boy Is Mine’ is similarly catchy, with the R&B-inspired tune describing a forbidden crush. Production from Max Martin elevates the track, with a slick instrumental and sultry vocals.

Eternal Sunshine Highlights

Highlights of the album include the gloriously unique ‘Imperfect For You’, with a juddering, offbeat guitar line combined with fantastically controlled vocals, and ‘Don’t Wanna Break Up Again’, which seems to reference how the singer felt isolated during her short-lived marriage.

‘True Story’ takes aim at the critics, with venomous vocals that try to reclaim Grande’s reputation. On the track, the singer claims “I’ll play the villain if you need me to / I know how this goes.”

On ‘Supernatural’, Grande crafts a glittery, soaring soundscape, with the remix featuring Troye Sivan taking the tune to celestial new heights.

The popstar closes the record with ‘Ordinary Things’, which features her grandmother, affectionately known as Nonna. The singer has often shared her close relationship with her Nonna with fans online.

Grande Sets The Record Straight

The 30-year-old singer made headlines last year after she announced her divorce from real estate mogul Dalton Gomez, who she married in 2021.

The split was complicated by rumours surrounding her involvement with Ethan Slater, her Wicked co-star, who left his childhood sweetheart Lilly Jay around the same time.

Grande seemingly responded to some of the gossip in an Instagram story she shared at the end of 2023, stating that she had been “so deeply misunderstood by people who don’t know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life.”

She further addresses the widespread criticism surrounding her love life on her latest album, sharing her side of the story.

The album’s lead single, ‘yes, and?’, released in January, fired back at her haters, with the singer boldly proclaiming “your business is yours and mine is mine / Why do you care so much whose d*ck I ride?,” which was met with backlash from many who accused her of homewrecking.

However, public opinion seems to have changed following the release of the album.

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Featured image courtesy of lindsay neilson via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here. 

Tabitha is an MA Journalism student at Sheffield University. She has previously worked as a maritime journalist, and studied politics at Durham University. She enjoys writing about music, culture, and travel.

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