Ariana Grande knows a thing or two about concept records. She can effortlessly go from an album about romantic devotion to an album baring her soul about a tumultuous divorce. More than three years after her 2020 album "Positions," Grande makes a Saturn return with her seventh studio album, "eternal sunshine."
"Eternal Sunshine" emulates Grande's honesty and moving experiences as her marriage comes to an end. The album explores multiple stages of grief, anger, denial and ultimately, acceptance. In the album's lyrics, Grande shows an outstanding sense of progression in herself and her sound production.
Grande shows a noticeable increase in maturity in her voice. Her lack of diction has become one of her main characteristics, but after four years, her vocals express the most emphasis heard throughout her career.
The album's introduction, titled "intro (end of the world)," establishes the album's overall theme with burning questions such as: "How can I tell if I'm in the right relationship?" The tracks following explore her decision to end her marriage and possibly begin a new, more hopeful one.
Track two, "bye," adds to her barrage of "bad girl anthem" songs like "thank u, next." Set immediately after the subtle introduction, this blazing anthem of anger and resilience sets a strong precedent for the album early on. She sings, "This ain't the first time I've been hostage to these tears," a possible nod back to her motivating "Sweetener" track, "no tears left to cry."
"yes, and?"is the album's standout track with its "Vogue" interpolation from another pop phenomenon, Madonna. The house pop track is an astonishing single, but the artist has had more worthy singles under her belt. Her bridge is the most daring part of the song, as the lyrics demand a "mind your own business" attitude from Grande. She demands, "Don't comment on my body, do not reply / Your business is yours and mine is mine.
“we can't be friends (wait for your love)“ sounds reminiscent of fellow collaborator The Weeknd, specifically his "Moth To A Flame."Essentially, its backing Europop synths and Max Martin accreditation show familiarity, but the song is worth becoming a substantial pop hit with resonating lyrics. As another standout track for the album, the song conveys waiting for a relationship while suffering through the misunderstanding of an ex.
Track seven, "true story,"could fit perfectly on her fifth album, "thank u, next."Derived from a leaked track "Fantasize," the song holds a strong sense of urgency with its powerful, celestial chorus repeating "Gimme love, love, gimme love." The track focuses on the gossip following Grande's personal life and relationships, with her rejecting all the media's deception of her.
The sister track of "true story" is the Brandy and Monica-inspired "the boy is mine," which brings in similarities to her controversial hit, "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored." The artist states it's another "bad girl anthem" of hers, while some speculate that the song is about her new relationship.
Grande adds clips of other people talking in her tracks, this time featuring her grandmother, Nonna, to her closing track "ordinary things."Nonna's spoken monologue at the end of the song gives a hopeful conclusion to the album as she talks about her relationship with her husband while providing worthy relationship advice: always kiss your significant other goodnight.
Grande was inspired by the 2004 film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," of which the album title and title track were derived. Another overlying aspect of astronomy is prevalent in several tracks with many inserts of the sun, moon, stars and cosmos. In "supernatural," she sings, "Need your hands all up on my body / Like the moon needs the stars," to name one example.
With a track list of 13 songs and a runtime of 36 minutes, most songs are less than three minutes long, making it feel cut too short. Some tracks lack an emotional climax to fully stimulate these powerful, heartfelt lyrics.
Lyrically, the album is her best by far, hitting more poignant emotions and themes. Her sound production has also substantially improved, with most of the production done by Grande herself. It is debatable if "eternal sunshine" is Grande's best album to date, but it is certainly one of her most radiantly developed albums that raises new gleaming potential for the artist.
