By: Cameron Tyo
December, 2, 2024
A while ago now, back in March of 2024, Ariana Grande released her album Eternal Sunshine to most music streaming services on CD, vinyl, YouTube, etc., for the whole world to listen to after a four-year hiatus from being in the recording studio, making music to focus on her role as Glinda in Wicked. Working with and finishing production of the song’s albums with producer Max Martin in December, Eternal Sunshine contains 13 songs drawing inspiration from her bubblegum pop and RnB era. Songs of love, break up, minding one’s business relating to one’s body, and much more shockingly associated with the controversy and hate surrounding her at the time are revealed by Grande through 35 minutes of music, creating one of her most cohesive albums to date.
The MV’s album songs are reminiscent of the plot of the movie Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless Mind, in which a character portrayed by Jim Carey undergoes a medical procedure to forget an ex-lover. This album is a concept album.
I’ve kept up with Ariana Grande’s music career for most of my life since she released her Thank U, Next album, but I’ve known her ever since her acting career for Nickelodeon in shows such as Victorious and Sam and Cat. As such, I can very well grasp the acting that she portrays in her songs.
The album starts out with the “intro (end of the world).” At first, all you can hear is static, as if you were turning on the TV to watch the start of some show. In this case, it is a singing Grande wondering whether or not she is in the right relationship as soft guitar strings are plucked, and Grande answers back to herself through harmonies. She ponders whether someone would be on her mind or another person once the sun comes up. It’s a perfect way to introduce the themes of the album.
The next two songs tell of relationships ending in different ways. In “Bye,” Grande shows that breaking up with her lover was great, with the uptempo disco-esque music only proving that fact. She is taking back what is hers and showing how ending a relationship can be seen as a positive experience. The soaring harmonies itch my brain so much. “Don’t wanna break up,” on the other hand, shows Grande in a conflicted state about whether or not she should leave her partner or not. She’s scared. You can hear the sadness and conflict in her voice throughout the song. The drums create a much softer tempo compared to “Bye.” Many people, when ending a relationship, think about breaking up with their partner in both good and bad ways, as these two songs represent.
“Saturn Returns Interlude” uses a sample from Diana Garland that mentions the return of Saturn, an event that happens only so many years and is speculated to be an event associated with waking up and getting more accustomed to life. This song leads to the title track, “Eternal Sunshine.” Through this trap-filled track, Ariana makes many references to the movie in which the album’s name is shared. She has lines such as “So I try to wipe my mind/I’d rather forget to know/rather feel painless/.” These lines reference brainwashing, the procedure Jim Carey goes through to forget his ex-lover, which Grande was trying to do at the time. Despite the trap production, the song has a swift and beautiful memory, while Grande explains how her ex unintentionally harmed her emotionally.
The next song, “Supernatural,” sounds almost galactic. It’s an RnB-esque song that sort of acts as a transition from talking about Grande’s situation with her ex-lover to the other big controversy that was surrounding her at the time.
“True Story” features a metal bass line with RnB elements, creating an almost bubble gum melody. In the song, she explains how tabloids are twisting facts of stories or making them up entirely about Ariana and, while not clearly said, probably her boyfriend now, Ethan Slater.
“The Boy is Mine” feels the most 90ish of the album, and it makes sense as it interpolates the song of the same name from Brandy and Monica, making it much more hip-hop. She details how she has fallen in love with a guy. His charm has pulled her in.
The single of the song “Yes, and?” is a very bouncy anthem where Grande claps back to the haters, saying that everyone has their own issues they deal with, and that’s their business. She mentions things such as people worrying about her body, etc., and says that if anyone does have opinions, then inside of staying anonymous, they “should say that shit with their chest.”
“We Can’t Be Friends (wait for Your Love)” reveals that Grande wants more than a friendship with someone but is too scared to progress in doing so. It is one of the more emotionally charged songs in the album and is near the end. You can hear Ariana’s yearning in her voice as the synth and sonic-driven voice of Grande’s harmonies act as the chorus. “I wish I hated you” reveals a relationship that ended in which she thought no one was at fault. She wishes her ex-lover good luck in life and tries to find out a reason why she and her ex separated, but her voice cracks at the end when she realizes there is none. The song has a dreamy-like melody, like most of the songs, but it makes this song so much more heartbreaking than it might very well be otherwise.
“Imperfect for you” brings up the mood a lot more as Ariana talks about how she can see the light in the darkness through life, as she and her partner are able to be themselves around each other. This sentimental thought leads us to the final song of the album, “Ordinary Things.” This song details the things Ariana does to spend time with their lover and, in the end, has her grandmother answer the question of the intro song: “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?” She reveals that noticing if you kiss your partner goodnight before going to bed every night is the answer. The album tells about Grande through much of the hate, controversy, and regret she has felt in her life as a woman in her 30s.
I noticed the songs were much softer and more repetitive than most of the other songs from other albums, but I really liked them. As someone who has never really been deeply in love or has been divorced or has broken/been broken up in a relationship, I could feel the pain and uncertainty Ariana felt during those moments of her life. I could sense the butterflies in her stomach. I could sense her powerfulness and empowerment in songs such as “Yes..and” where she tries not to let anything get to her, calling out haters. She is so personal with everything she says in the album. It feels so genuine.
This album has been out for a while now, but if you like me and haven’t listened to it fully in one go and love RnB or just tragic talks of romance with a hint of lightness mixed in paired with lovely vocals and don’t mind the repetitiveness of songs, then I bet you’ll have a great time listening to Eternal Sunshine.
With that, I give the album a score of 8.1/10