Ariana Grande
eternal sunshine
REPUBLIC
ABOVE THE CURRENT
All kudos to Ariana Grande for landing three quick jabs to the pop zeitgeist at the turn of the decade. 2018’s emotive Sweetener saw Grande dig deep with emotional lyrics, while the following year’s double-platinum pop behemoth Thank U, Next took her vulnerable contemporary R&B sound to new levels. Finally, 2020’s sultry and chatty Positions was yet again inspired by her “emotional healing” and yet again saw Grande deploy her secret weapon of gymnastic vocals against trap-infused R&B and a high-gloss pop aesthetic she’s been alchemizing since the underrated gem that was 2016’s Dangerous Woman.
The pop icon’s seventh album eternal sunshine drops right after Grande’s personal life has once again been tossed out for the public to pick apart. In addition to the exposure that comes with landing a starring role in the upcoming movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, she recently dropped her longtime manager Scooter Braun and survived a highly publicized divorce before nurturing a new romance. eternal sunshine, then, sees Grande attempting to wipe all the pain away. It’s a sparkling concept album partially inspired by celeb BFF Jim Carrey’s 2004 sci-fi romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a story of two exes who erase their memories of their relationship only to both say “OK” to all the pain again. The full-length approaches after just one single, the dancey “yes, and?,” which addressed the social media detritus head-on: “Your business is yours and mine is mine / Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?”
Yet that early single wasn’t indicative of the overall vibe of the punchy, 35-minute odyssey. Grande teamed up with frequent collaborators Shintaro Yasuda, Ilya Salmanzadeh, and Max Martin on the release, with the latter modern pop production master adding a synth-pop swagger to the instant-classic “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” as Grande sings about sitting in silent sadness with the little Ari she lost along the way (“Baby girl, it’s just me and you”). That single also tips a hat to the rhythm section of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” and details a relationship spinning out of control. The plunging chord progression on the chorus makes your heart sink: “We can’t be friends / But I’d like to just pretend… and wait until you like me again.” Yikes.
Lowercase trap-soul musings on Saturn-cycle situationships (“don’t wanna break up again,” “supernatural,” “true story”) bulk up the first half of the tracklist as Grande flits between mid-tempo R&B and ’70s disco’s swooning strings. Though her lyrics are poignant throughout, the best passage on the album has to be on the title track when Grande sounds the most fragile: “I fall asleep crying / You turn up the TV” (elsewhere the line “You played me like Atari” is accentuated by an ’80s video game sound effect for the winking knife twist). The frosty production (“i wish i hated you”), self-soothing and nocturnal bass (“true story”), and unblemished backing vocals (“don’t wanna break up again”) throughout eternal sunshine are exquisite, but the halfway mark is when Grande kicks it into a higher gear on her bad-girl anthem “the boy is mine.” The song sees the pop star creating a spiritual sequel of sorts to her leaked but officially unreleased ’90s-girl-group-inspired track “Fantasize.”
Overall, eternal sunshine perfects familiar musical territory until the album closes with words of wisdom on “ordinary things,” as Grande’s grandmother talks to her about an essential part of a successful marriage. “Never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight,” she tells her granddaughter. “And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it… you’re in the wrong place. Get out.” Some situationship disasters are worth remembering, and Nonna Grande’s sage advice is a lovely ending note to an imperfect moment. eternal sunshine is a true conceptual piece about relationship demons, crippling anxieties, and the futility of erasing your fucked-up past just to avoid being a hostage to your tears. Say goodbye to the past and hello to 2024’s first pop masterpiece.
