Pop star and actress Ariana Grande has finally released her long-awaited seventh album on Friday, March 8. The album “Eternal Sunshine” is named after the film, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” starring Jim Carrey.
In an interview with Amazon Music, Grande said, “I’m a huge Jim Carrey fan and I always have been, and I was always sort of attracted to the idea of writing a song around that, but once I realized that the rest of the songs were kind of forming a story that, well, kinda similar to ‘Eternal Sunshine’ where’s this cycle that everyone’s trying to break, it just fell into place.”
Grande made headlines in 2023 with her divorce from ex-husband Dalton Gomez and her relationship with her “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater. The short album at just 35 minutes has 13 songs, with most of these new songs seemingly about both Gomez and Slater.
The first single of the album, “yes, and?” was released earlier in January. I was not into the single initially, but it has since grown on me a little. Compared to the rest of the songs on “Eternal Sunshine,” this one sounds completely different. A remix of the single featuring Mariah Carey was also released in February.
Grande’s seventh album opens up with “intro (end of the world).” This introduction pulled me in right away. She discusses how she’s really feeling about her past relationship with a calming vibe from the production. This song gave me a good feeling for what the rest of the album was going to be like.
The second song of the album “bye” is personally one of my favorites. The song is very upbeat and the chorus is pretty catchy. Other songs featured on the album like “the boy is mine” have a fun vibe to it.
The song “eternal sunshine” alludes to Gomez possibly cheating. A part of the lyrics read, “So now we play our separate scenes / Now, now she’s in my bed, mm-mm, layin’ on your chest.” Other songs on the album, like “i wish i hated you” and “imperfect for you,” also have a similar sad break-up vibe.
In the song “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” Grande seems to clap back at gossip sites spreading rumors about her and Slater with “We can’t be friends / But I’d like to just pretend / You cling to your papers and pens / Wait until you like me again.” The music video was released on the same day featuring “American Horror Story” and “WandaVision” actor Evan Peters.
Grande ends the album off with a message from her Nonna in “ordinary things (feat. Nonna).” Nonna states at the end: “never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight / That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that / And if you can’t, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing it / You’re in the wrong place, get out.” By closing out the album with this message, it seems like Grande is trying to make a point.
Overall, “Eternal Sunshine” gives the same vibes as Grande’s previous albums “Sweetener” from 2018 and “Thank U, Next” from 2019, which are both my favorite albums from her. This album is a mix of fun and upbeat songs like “Sweetener,” but it also features a few break-up or sad songs like in “Thank U, Next.” I don’t believe there is one bad song on the album.
“Eternal Sunshine” is also getting a lot of positivity on social media. One user, @criminalplaza on X has shared “it feels like ariana has finally found her sound cause you can hear each album mixed into this one and it all flows so nicely.”
Other artists have also been praising “Eternal Sunshine.” Both Selena Gomez and Megan Thee Stallion have posted on their Instagram stories their reactions while listening to the album.
Ariana Grande’s musical film “Wicked: Part One” based on the Broadway play will also be released this year on Nov. 27. Grande is starring alongside Cynthia Erivo.
5/5 stars
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Berisik Radio, Wikipedia
