On March 8, Ariana Grande released her eighth studio album, eternal sunshine.
Grande is a pop icon known for having an extremely impressive vocal range that includes the notoriously difficult whistle notes. Throughout her career, however, she has sparked controversy in the media.
Recently, Grande divorced her husband Dalton Gomez, a real estate broker, and started dating Ethan Slater, an actor, singer and Grande’s co-star in the musical Wicked. Allegedly, she began seeing Slater while both of them were in committed marriages. Fans believe this album is a response to this controversy.
eternal sunshine surprised listeners with this new, vulnerable side of Grande. Levi Liming (V) was intrigued by Grande’s new style. When dissecting the album, it is seen as a combination of many different artistic inspirations, ranging from the film that the title stemmed from, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, to classic icons like Madonna.
First off is “intro (end of the world),” which starts the album off with questions about love and relationships. The next song in the album is “bye,” which dives into Grande moving on, learning and standing up for herself regarding relationships.
The fifth song on the album is “eternal sunshine.” It includes an audio of her and the late rapper Mac Miller, and discusses how she has learned lessons since their relationship and how she wishes to forget certain memories. This is a concept borrowed from Michel Gondry’s 2004 film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which inspired the song and album title.
Following that is “the boy is mine,” which describes a new love interest who she feels is made just for her. Next come two of her most popular songs from the album, “yes, and?” and “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).”
Her song, “yes, and?” was one of her most controversial songs since it addresses the rumors surrounding Grande and how people do not own up to their words. The music video can be seen to be a homage to many artists. Grande’s choreographer, Will Loftis, says to Rolling Stone, “The overall structure of “Cold-Hearted Snake” was inspired by [Bob] Fosse. Those were the jumping-off points […] I spent a lot of time at the [Metropolitan Museum of Art]. I knew the sculptures were going to be a big part of the video.”
Grande’s hit “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” was released alongside a memorable music video. This is where the inspiration from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shines. In the film, a woman undergoes a memory-erasing procedure after a horrible breakup. The music video depicts Grande experiencing the same procedure and the lyrics detail how heartbroken she is.
To end the album is “ordinary things,” which answers the questions about love and relationships that the opening song established. The song ends with a voice memo of Grande’s grandmother advising her to stop worrying and appreciate the little things in life.
Overall, her album shows a more mature Grande than we’ve seen in the previous albums. This unapologetic and raw project mixed with her angelic voice displays the growth in her career. Several of her songs do not just discuss love and heartbreak, but also how social media and rumors impact everyone. The same iconic Grande personality is present, but this time in an older and more evolved sense.
